New Urban Land committee launched in Birmingham

Global think tank The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has launched its first regional committee in the UK in Birmingham.

Thirteen specialists from the worlds of property, finance, urban regeneration, construction and the public sector have been recruited to form the ULI Midlands committee, an opinion-forming body aimed at creating economic growth and sustainable communities.

The ULI is an international non-profit education and research institute headquartered in Washington DC with more than 30,000 members worldwide, representing the entire spectrum of the land use and development disciplines.

Joe Montgomery, the ULI’s chief executive for Europe and a former student at Aston University, hosted the inaugural meeting of the organisation’s Midlands’ arm at law firm Wragge & Co.

He said: “The Midlands has some of Europe’s great cities and deserves to be much more central to the thinking of major real estate and regeneration investors.

“ULI was proud to award Birmingham an honorary excellence award in 2004 at our global conference in New York, to acknowledge the transformation of both the Bullring and Brindleyplace.

“The Midlands is reinventing its central business and retail areas and has a good track record of skills and leadership: ULI, as the premier international knowledge exchange network for the real estate industry, is keen to help connect the Midlands to the investors and developers that will help generate the next wave of urban change.”

The ULI is no stranger to Birmingham. In addition to the two awards, the organisation’s UK executive committee member responsible for the UK regions, Martin Field, director of The Urban Consortium, a consultancy advising on urban public affairs and strategic communications, is based here.

He said: “We are keen to source the next project in Birmingham or the Midlands worthy of an ULI Award for Excellence.”

The ULI is organised around the world into 66 District Councils. The Midlands committee is a sub-group of the UK District Council, based in London, where the ULI European headquarters are also housed.

Adrian Bland, head of real estate at law firm Wragge & Co, will chair the committee. A series of events have been arranged designed to analyse

policy and the issues facing Birmingham and the region, including transport, housing, inward investment and socio-economic growth.

Committee member Martin Guest, managing director of the Birmingham office of CB Richard Ellis, said: “As the world’s biggest property consultancy, CBRE is active in the ULI across the globe.

“It’s great for our Birmingham office to be involved at a local level, where our international know-how and regional knowledge will hopefully make a difference.”

David Smeeton, head of the Birmingham office of Colliers International and also a member of the new committee, said: “Recent high profile international property investment in Birmingham means the city is finally earning its place on the global stage.”

ULI COMMITTEE MEMBERS

* Associated Architects LLP – Ian Standing, director

* Brockton Capital – David Zimmerman, partner

* CB Richard Ellis – Martin Guest, managing director of the Birmingham office

* Colliers International – David Smeeton, head of the Birmingham office

* J O Hambro Capital, North Atlantic Value LLP – Jonathon Whittingham, director

* Hines – Anthony Leonard, director

* KMPG – Steve Hollis, senior partner and Midlands chairman

* Homes and Communities Agency – Paul Spooner, executive director – Midlands

* Lloyds TSB – Ian Martin, regional head of corporate real estate

* PWC – Alistair Reason, senior manager

* UK ULI executive committee member – regions and director, The Urban Consortium – Martin Field