Paris-listed REIT Gecina has appointed Franck Lirzin, previously deputy chief of staff for the French Secretary of State for Industry, Digital and Innovation, as executive director of its residential activities.
A Polytechnique graduate and Ecole des Mines engineer, Lirzin has held various positions with the French ministry of economy and finance, notably in the budget department.
His career path since 2006 has taken him successively from state-owned public transport operator RATP to the cabinet of the French minister for economic affairs, Emmanuel Macron, and Société Générale Asset Management.
The appointment comes a month after Gecina announced it was hiring Valérie Britay, a managing director at French peer Unibail-Rodamco, to lead its €9.4 bn office division.
Gecina is a leading office real estate group in France, with the sector accounting for 78% of the company's €12.1 bn real estate portfolio at end-2016. The remaining 22% of the portfolio is diversified between residential and student housing. All but 3% of the overall holdings is located in the Paris region.
