Weston Smith officially commenced a two-year term on 1 July 2022 and will serve on a voluntary basis. He succeeds William Riordan, Co-Founder, Oberland. As part of his role, Weston Smith will become a member of the ULI Europe Executive Committee.

“I am honoured to lead the ULI Young Leaders in Europe for the next 2 years. ULI is the most influential research and institutional organisation for the built environment in the world. Members constantly learn and develop their skills through the direct exposure to industry leaders who freely share their knowledge, experience, and wisdom.” said Weston Smith.

Weston Smith recognises that the built world and the broader real estate industry are going through an unprecedented period of transformation with challenges to tackle including decarbonisation, affordability, diversity, equity, and inclusion. In parallel, real estate players are striving to catch up from low adoption of technology, automation, and digitisation, building links with a fast-growing PropTech start-up ecosystem: “As Young Leaders, we provide one of the best forums for current decision makers to engage with the leaders of tomorrow. We question, challenge and can disrupt. We bring a focus on purpose and responsibility. Via a continuous strengthening of cross-generational bridges with the ULI, we can collectively identify and apply new, innovative, and pragmatic solutions to address today’s industry challenges. Leveraging ULI’s global reach, diversity, emphasis on education, communities, and the best land use, we have all the ingredients to sensitively shape the future of the built environment together.”

Weston Smith plans to build on the initiatives led by William Riordan during his tenure and create new programmes for European Young Leaders to increasingly connect, discuss, and network whilst encouraging the cross-pollination of ideas. Riordan welcomed his successor’s appointment: “I’ve been honoured to chair the Young Leaders for the past two years, an unprecedented time for the world and our industry, during which we saw European membership grow substantially, reflecting the importance and power of ULI. There is of course more work to do, and I’m thrilled to be handing over the reins to the highly qualified and talented Thibault.”

Lars Huber, the new ULI Europe Chairman, who started his term on 1 July, said: “A very warm welcome to Thibault, who I look forward to working with and ensuring that the Young Leaders programme continues to be well supported and connected into the global network. This group is incredibly important to ULI, as it provides a platform for the real estate leaders and experts of the future. I think Thibault is a fantastic entrepreneurial talent in our industry, who will no doubt pursue some innovative ideas for sustaining the ongoing success of Young Leaders, and I wish him well.”

Weston Smith has been a member of ULI since 2015, and most recently has been actively involved in initiatives including Bridge the Gap, the European networking programme and organising or moderating events on PropTech and Life Sciences. He has over ten years’ experience in real estate, beginning his career at Tishman Speyer where he held various roles in acquisitions, asset management, development and innovation in Europe and the United States. Subsequently he joined 14Trees, a start-up accelerating the use of construction innovations in Africa, which delivered the world’ first 3D printed school in 2020. He is currently Managing Director at Realty Corporation, a real estate private equity and advisory firm deploying capital both in real estate assets and PropTech start-ups.

“Thibault’s commitment to ULI’s mission priorities, his enthusiasm for addressing today’s challenges, and his valuable experience working in real estate and PropTech, is a great combination for a chair of Europe Young Leaders,” said Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe. “The team and I are looking forward to working with him. I would also like to thank William Riordan for his invaluable contribution as chair over the last two years as he developed new programmes stimulating extraordinary membership growth, especially considering the challenges of the pandemic.”

For more information about the ULI Europe Young Leaders programme, sponsored by AXA Investment Managers and PATRIZIA, visit europe.uli.org/councils/young-leaders.