Global rental housing specialist Greystar Real Estate Partners has created a new leadership role in Europe to drive its continued expansion across the bloc.
As managing director, Michela Hancock will be charged with expanding and strengthening Greystar’s third-party platform and strategic partnerships.
Hancock will work with Greystar’s six country leaders in France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK to identify new opportunities across student, build to rent and senior living.
She joined Greystar in 2015 and most recently led the UK development and construction team for two years. Prior to this, she was director of PRS at Grainger and worked for The Bozzuto Group in Washington DC as a developer of Build to Rent communities.
A second appointment sees Dave Thomas, senior director, promoted to head of the UK development team, to oversee the delivery of all current projects, numbering around 4,000 units.
Thomas will also work closely with the UK student and multifamily investment teams to identify and execute future development opportunities to enable Greystar to continue scaling its presence in the UK.
Mark Allnutt, senior managing director – Europe, Greystar said: 'The strength of our global platform means that there is a significant opportunity to grow our third-party institutional client base in Europe.
'Michela Hancock has been one of Greystar’s most tireless ambassadors and has played an integral role in establishing the business in the UK real estate industry. She will now widen her focus to Europe and hand the reins of the UK development team to Dave Thomas, who is a longstanding and trusted colleague with deep and varied experience in both development and construction.'
Hancock said: 'I am looking forward to expanding my role and applying my leadership experience to the European market. The potential for the growth of our third-party platform is huge given the depth of our management experience, extent of our global client relationships and strength of our teams.'
Greystar manages more than 660,000 units in nearly 200 markets across the world, of which around 500,000 are managed on behalf of third-party institutional clients.
