Jürgen Volm (Photo credit:Thomas Rauch, “Kreativbude Basel”)

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced the appointment of Professor Jürgen M. Volm, partner and member of the executive board, pom+ Consulting AG, as chair of ULI Switzerland who officially began his voluntary two-year term on 1 July 2021.

ULI is the world’s oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate experts, with more than 45,000 members globally and more than 4,000 members across Europe. ULI Switzerland involves over 100 leading real estate stakeholders from the private and public sectors representing all disciplines within the Swiss commercial and residential property market.

Professor Volm succeeds Birgit Werner MRICS, CEO of Indevise Group, who led ULI Switzerland from 2016 and grew the Council significantly, not only in terms of membership but also its level of activities. Birgit Werner said: “Jürgen’s passion for real estate can be seen throughout his career, where he has combined academic flair with successfully setting up and growing a business across Switzerland. He will be an asset to ULI Switzerland as the council seeks to expand its membership and activities across the country and further develops connections with current and future industry leaders.”

Professor Volm is an accomplished real estate industry expert with experience in international project management and project development, and he is also the programme director of the International Project Management Masters Course at Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT). Before moving to pom+ Consulting AG, Professor Volm was responsible for setting up Drees & Sommer in Switzerland.  With a Master of Engineering in International Project Management from HFT Stuttgart and a Master of Business Administration from Liverpool John Moores University, the graduate civil engineer has extensive business knowledge, which he is keen to impart to the next generation of industry leaders.

As chair of ULI Switzerland, Professor Volm aims to contribute to the current environmental, social and governance (ESG) endeavours, in particular regarding the circular economy and social responsibility. He aims to launch ULI UrbanPlan at schools and universities in Switzerland – a classroom-based programme in which students learn about the fundamental forces that affect urban regeneration – to support the creation of liveable and sustainable cities for the future. And in addition to an already active Young Leader group, he aims to expand the ULI NEXT programme – for members aged between 35 and 45 – by connecting the next generation of leaders for the built environment in the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region.  “I am very pleased to support the further growth of ULI Switzerland and to strengthen the connection with the DACH region and Europe,” said Professor Volm. “The challenges in the coming years require a global sharing of knowledge. Hence, we are proud to make our stake as professionals in the real estate sector in Switzerland.”

Lisette van Doorn, ULI Europe CEO, said: “Jürgen is an inspiring leader in the Swiss real estate sector who is generous in sharing his knowledge and dedicated to enhancing the real estate industry’s positive role in society. We look forward to working with him and the National Council’s Executive Committee in growing the membership and furthering the mission of ULI in Switzerland. I’d also like to thank Birgit Werner for the enormous contribution that she has made in growing the council and I am delighted that she will continue to play an active role on the ULI Switzerland Executive Committee and as a ULI Global Governing Trustee.”

Marnix Galle, chair of ULI Europe and executive chairman of Belgian developer Immobel, said: “ULI Switzerland has been expanding rapidly within the DACH region and we look forward to seeing the next stage of growth under Jürgen’s helm. With his connections and work across Switzerland, he has a wonderful opportunity to leverage the ULI platform to help shape the future of the built environment in local Swiss communities and inspire a new generation of real estate leaders.”

Since its founding in 2014, ULI Switzerland has successfully held over 30 events with more than 1,000 participants, including various formats such as roundtables, breakfasts, summer dinners and site tours, in addition to webinars. It also has an active Young Leaders group (for members aged under 35), which benefits from a mentoring programme enabling professionals at the beginning of their career to benefit from experience of renowned senior executives.

For more information about ULI Switzerland and its programme of events, visit switzerland.uli.org.

Notes to Editors

About the Urban Land Institute

• The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
• ULI has over 4,000 members in Europe across 15 National Council country networks. For more information, please visit uli.org, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
• ULI Switzerland’s corporate partners include EBP, Indevise Group, Steiner, and Swiss Prime Site Immobilien.
• The ULI Switzerland Executive Committee includes the following members:
  • Dr. Pascal Gantenbein, Financial Management, University of Basel
  • Robert Hauri, co-owner/CEO, SPG Intercity Zurich AG
  • Brice Hoffer, head of real estate research & strategy – DACH, UBS
  • Stephan Kloess, CEO, KRE (Kloess Real Estate)
  • Simon König, CEO, Lakeward Management Ltd.
  • Dr. Christian Kraft, head of the Competence Center for Real Estate, Lucerne University
  • Rainer Marti, managing partner, Fahrländer AG
  • Anja Meyer, CEO, Smeyers AG
  • Anna Schindler, director of city development, Zürich
  • Christopher Schumacher, global head of real assets, Manulife IM
  • Birgit Werner, CEO, Indevise Group AG
  • PD Dr. Joris van Wezemael, CEO, IVO Innenentwicklung AG

About pom+ Consulting AG

• pom+ is a Swiss consulting company that provides services for real estate, infrastructure, companies and organizations in the fields of construction, facility, property, portfolio and asset management.
• The core competencies of pom+ include performance measurement, strategy development, resource optimization, sustainability advice, use of technology and digitization strategies – and solutions with regard to the life cycle of real estate and infrastructures. Over 80 employees, most of them university and technical college graduates, impress with their specialist knowledge, proven experience and know-how from around 6,000 projects.
• pom+ was founded as a spin-off of the ETH Zurich in 1996. While still headquartered in Zurich, the company today has offices in Basel, Bern, Lausanne, St. Gallen and Frankfurt and has been advising over 600 clients in Switzerland and abroad. pom.ch