JLL Midlands has secured well-known industry heavyweight, Simon Horan, to lead its residential development business in the Midlands.
Simon, who worked as development director for Savills and CBRE before working as business development director for Henry Davidson Development, will build a new team in Birmingham, working across the Midlands region.
The decision to invest for the long term and significantly bolster its Birmingham residential arm, is in response to increasing demand for new homes in the city centre through the rise of urbanisation, alongside the more traditional suburban development through the greater West Midlands.
Ian Cornock, lead director for JLL Midlands said: “We are seriously committed to developing our residential business and delighted that we have someone of Simon’s calibre, experience and contacts to help shape and grow the new team.
“We’re very much looking to the long term and the future of cities, responding to the rise of the ‘living’ sector, driven by changing demographics, population shifts and a new view of place making.”
The ‘Living’ sector is a growing asset class comprising buildings that people make their homes through various stages of their lives such as student living, build to rent, retirement homes, hotels and care homes.
Simon Horan commented: “Residential development is evolving to create some very exciting and innovative opportunities for investors and developers alike and JLL’s strategy to grow its professional team and skills come just at the right time.
“If you look at JLL’s residential business in London and Manchester, you’ll see they’re already a very serious contender in the residential sector and being able to lead a team and aim for the same level of market dominance in Birmingham and the Midlands, is an exciting prospect.
“In the spirit of JLL, we’ll be looking to bring new ideas to the fore and take a much more holistic approach to residential schemes and place making, creating new communities where people want to live, work, have fun and relax, which also provides many added value opportunities for investors and developers.
Simon added: “By integrating what we do into the wider team such as planning, valuation and public sector advisory work, we can advise not only on residential but mixed-use opportunities, essentially creating a fully integrated service provision covering all aspects of development consultancy for clients.”
Simon Horan is the first of a number of announcements to be made about the new team in the coming months.