Hines, the international real estate firm, has strengthened its UK development team with the appointment of Damien Hilborne as Development Director.
The appointment has been made as part of the firm’s strategy 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.
In the West End of London, these include Oxbourne House, the flagship retail and residential scheme located above the new Bond Street Underground station entrance on London’s Oxford Street, The Grain House office and retail development in Covent Garden and the 80 New Bond Street site on the corner of Oxford Street and New Bond Street for which a high quality retail and office scheme is currently being developed.
Damien Hilborne joins Hines from Viridis Real Estate, where he spent eight years as Construction Director responsible for the delivery of a range of major projects across multiple asset classes in central London and locations around the UK and continental Europe. Among his portfolio of projects is the redevelopment of the former Guardian headquarters in Farringdon into The Ray, a 100,000-square-foot office scheme pre-leased to LinkedIn as its UK base at the start of 2019.
Hilborne will be joining a development team led by Robbie Pitman, who joined Hines 12 months ago as Head of Development in the UK in a newly created role as the firm grows its pipeline of projects across London and key regional markets.
Damien Hilborne said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to join a world class real estate firm with a number of prominent schemes in London, and an expanding pipeline of projects across the UK, particularly in the exciting student accommodation and Industrial and Logistics sectors.”
Robbie Pitman said: “Bringing on board a project development specialist of Damien’s caliber and experience represents a significant appointment for the firm. We have a strong and growing long-term development pipeline and his arrival further strengthens our capabilities in this side of our business.”
Hines is currently active in the office, retail, student housing and logistics sectors, managing a combined UK property portfolio worth more than £2 billion and located in London and key regional cities.