HB Reavis steps up activity in Germany with new Berlin office

International real estate developer HB Reavis has opened its first office in Berlin marking the company’s entry into Germany, alongside the appointment of two new members, Hans-Peter Haehnlein and Andreas Roczek, to the team headed up by the country CEO Marcel Sedlak.

HB Reavis is active within the UK, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and has developed more than 1 million sq m of commercial space since its founding in 1993.

CEO Marcel Sedlak, who has been part of the company for 16 years, said: In the last ten years we have become one of the leading developers in the CEE and in the last five years, we have succeeded in establishing our presence within the competitive London market. For us, expansion to Germany was the logical next step when considering the country’s macroeconomic stability, the population dynamics of particular German cities, changes in the structure of labour and consequently the impact on office work space demand.

Sedlak continues: The real estate sector has been quite resistant to change for many years, however recently our industry has undergone a transformation driven by the rapidly changing needs of our customers and advancement in technology. At HB Reavis, we actively work on various projects and initiatives which reflect current market changes, for example, our own work space solution advisory services ´Origameo´ and our co-working platform ´HubHub’.

The new team in Berlin will primarily focus on office users and developing innovative work space solutions. Hans-Peter Haehnlein will assume the role of Commercial Director and Andreas Roczek will hold the position of Construction Director.

 We’re very pleased to have Peter and Andreas joining our team; both have valuable expertise and knowledge about the market and the sector, which will help us to expand our activity and innovative approach in Germany. On top of that, we are continuing to look for additional talent for our growing Berlin team, said Sedlak.

Mr Haehnlein will be responsible for the company’s expansion into Germany. Previously, Haehnlein was Managing Director at French investment firm INOVALIS, where he was in charge of German activity for the past ten years. Before that, Mr Haehnlein held numerous management positions at the Commerz Real Group. He holds a degree in Construction Management from the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.

Andreas Roczek will be in charge of planning, awarding of bids and construction teams for HB Reavis’ German development projects. Mr Roczek previously held senior management positions at companies such as Turner & Townsend, EC Harris and Tishman Speyer. Mr Roczek has
a graduate degree (Dipl. Ing.) from his studies in Germany and a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S.

Marcel Sedlak joined HB Reavis as a lawyer in 2001. He then took on the position of Chief Investment Officer in 2006 and played a leading role in the company’s expansion into Central and Eastern Europe as well as the UK. Mr Sedlák became a board member at HB Reavis in 2010. He holds a master’s degree in law from the Comenius University in Bratislava and an Executive MBA from Vienna University / Carlson School of Management / University of Minnesota.