The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced the appointment of Gabriel Uzgen, CEO of BESIX Real Estate Development (BESIX RED), as chair of ULI Belgium & Luxembourg (formerly ULI Belgium). He succeeds Xavier Denis, chief development officer, AG Real Estate, and will officially begin his voluntary two-year term on 1 July 2021.

Gabriel Uzgen’s appointment was announced during the National Council’s Annual Conference today. Xavier Denis, outgoing chair of ULI Belgium, said: “Gabriel has been a very enthusiastic ally of our National Council for many years and will be a formidable chair. As an industry leader, he has driven positive change by ensuring real estate projects consider the contributions that they make to communities. With his valuable experience, we expect the council to see further growth and inspire a whole new generation of real estate professionals.”

Gabriel Uzgen has been an active supporter of ULI since 2017 and, as a Full Member, sits on the pan-European Office and Mixed-Use Product Council, and chaired the ULI Belgium Office and Mixed-Use Council until recently. He is also a strong advocate of the values of collaboration, and responsible and sustainable practices, conveyed by ULI. About his appointment, he said: “I am privileged to have been given this opportunity, especially at a time when ULI is more important than ever before for our industry. Given the challenges and opportunities ahead of us, it is critical that we all build on the lessons learned from the past few months and use our interpersonal connections in order to bring new momentum to ULI’s multidisciplinary and global network.”

As chair of ULI Belgium & Luxembourg, Uzgen is committed to make ULI the real estate and urban development reference platform in Belgium and Luxembourg by delivering even more valuable content and events to members of the Institute and to focus on the Young Leaders programme. He adds: “I have the feeling that ULI can definitely support the younger ones among us and help them regenerate, through new events and initiatives, the network they have certainly been missing since the start of the health crisis. Our Young Leaders are the ones who will keep the ULI’s flame alive.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “Gabriel has such a wealth of experience across the industry, and has been an active and engaging member in Belgium, Luxembourg, and internationally, with a very strong network across the industry. His ambition to pro-actively exchange best practices at a local and international level fit well with ULI’s approach. Given the challenges and opportunities ahead, coming out of the Covid-19 health crisis, the industry needs to actively collaborate and take collective action addressing these challenges, and sharing best practices is a key way to advance the industry. 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 Belgium and Luxembourg.”

Marnix Galle, chairman of ULI Europe and executive chairman of Belgian developer Immobel, said: “We have some incredibly talented and dedicated members in Belgium and Luxembourg as I know from my own experience of chairing the National Council. Gabriel is a genuine real estate passionate, with a strong drive for innovation and digitalisation. With his connections and expertise, he will help foster a culture of collaboration across the industry.”

Gabriel Uzgen is a creative and visionary leader with over 30 years’ experience within the European real estate industry. Since being appointed as managing director of BESIX RED in 2010, and later CEO, he has positioned the company as a strategic pillar within BESIX Group and one of the key players in the real estate market. Leveraging on the BESIX Group’s strong synergies and multidisciplinary expertise, he developed several strategies including geographical and sectoral diversification, and co-developments with external investors. This included growing the company in its native markets, Belgium and Luxembourg, and expanding across new cities in The Netherlands, Portugal and France. He positioned it as a socially responsible business developing projects that bring positive change and valuable contributions to all its stakeholders including local communities.

He started his long-spanning career in 1989, and occupied several management positions at Salenko, IBC Group and Profi. He joined Codic International in 1996 serving as director for Belgium and member of the Executive Board, before establishing and managing its subsidiary in Hungary. Since joining BESIX RED, he was appointed member of BESIX Group’s Executive Committee in 2018 and is also a member of the Advisory Board of PropTech Lab.

His education includes bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Information Systems from the University of Antwerp, post-graduate degrees in Marketing Management and Marketing Research, from HEC – ICHEC Brussels, and Real Estate Management, from UFSIA Antwerp. In 2017, he also completed an advanced management programme at INSEAD in 2017.

ULI is the world’s oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate experts, with more than 45,000 members globally. ULI Belgium & Luxembourg involves over 200 leading real estate stakeholders from the private and public sectors representing all disciplines within the Belgium and Luxembourg commercial and residential property market. It has an active events calendar, including for Young Leaders (members aged under 35), and themed Product Council events looking at residential, office & mixed-use, and infrastructure & transit-oriented development. The National Council plays a pivotal role in supporting the next regional ULI Europe Conference, which will take place in Brussels, ­7–9 February 2022.

For more information about ULI Belgium & Luxembourg and its programme of events, visit belgium.uli.org