Hines has appointed Robbie Pitman as Managing Director and Head of Development in the UK. The new role has been created as Hines continues to grow its development pipeline in the UK, having acquired a range of prime sites for commercial, student housing and logistics projects within the past 12-months. These include the flagship retail and residential scheme located above the new Bond Street Underground station entrance on London’s Oxford Street.
Pitman spent three years in a construction and development role at Hines between 2008 and 2011, before leaving to join boutique property company Viridis Real Estate. As Deputy Managing Director, he was responsible for overseeing the delivery of over 1 million ft² of mainly commercial office space and student accommodation. He was responsible for the redevelopment of the former Guardian headquarters in Farringdon into The Ray, a 100,000ft² office scheme pre-let to LinkedIn as its UK base at the start of 2019.
Robbie Pitman said: “Whilst previously at Hines I was fortunate to be involved with a number of prominent schemes, particularly in the London office market. My own passion for development is shared by Hines, which runs through the firm’s DNA; from its roots in the U.S, across the globe and here in the UK. The business has evolved considerably in recent years, diversifying into new markets such as student accommodation and industrial/logistics. I’m thrilled to be back, particularly at such an exciting time for the business as it grows its development pipeline.”
Ross Blair, Senior Managing Director and head of Hines UK, said: “Hines has a proud reputation as one of the world’s premier real estate developers. In recent years we have balanced our development platform with our investment and asset management capabilities, increasingly moving into new sectors and new markets where we see value. As a developer, we understand the mechanics of how a building is put together, the importance of quality and technical specification. As an asset manager, we understand the value creation potential from attentive, client-focused property and facility management. As an investor and partner, we understand the need to drive value to achieve results through being creative and utilising our global debt and equity platform. We are in a strong position of having the capability to bring all three roles together, which is an increasingly compelling proposition to investment partners seeking opportunities in the UK. Bringing Robbie back to Hines represents a tremendous coup for our business as he is one of the best in the industry. His achievements in recent years to deliver a range of high-quality developments are very impressive and his decision to re-join the business is a testimony to his shared belief in our commitment to accelerating our development pipeline.”
