2004 Jury
Ben leads the team and company operations across Central & Eastern Europe for Prologis, the leading global owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate throughout Europe, Americas and Asia is responsible for all activities of Prologis in the CEE region (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia). He joined Prologis in 2008 from Jones Lang LaSalle where he was the Managing Director for Central Europe. In this role, he was responsible for Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, including the daily management of the Warsaw office and operations in Prague and Budapest. Ben has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, of which 15 years have been spent in Central Europe with Jones Lang LaSalle and Prologis. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in Land Economy. He is also a UK-trained chartered surveyor. David leads the Norton Rose Real Estate Team in Warsaw and his Europe-wide practice focuses on real estate, restructuring, banking and finance, corporate and securities transactions, telecommunications, and mergers and acquisitions. In his 30+ year legal career he has led teams advising on mergers and acquisitions of private and public companies, real estate transactions, debt and equity offerings and strategic investments, debt restructuring and restructurings of companies, telecommunications projects, privatization and financing transactions in both market and regulated economic environments. David has been listed annually in European Legal Business as a preferred legal provider for banking and finance since 2001 and intellectual property, IT and telecommunications since 2003. The Chambers Europe 2008 analysis of real estate lawyers in CEE stated: “David Dixon is the key partner for cross border work. His approach is described as pragmatic and realistic: when lawyers are at loggerheads he takes control of the situation.” The Chambers Europe 2009 analysis of real estate lawyers in Poland elaborates that “clients prize his international law knowledge and broad experience.” Legal 500 recognizes Mr Dixon as a leading lawyer in real estate and M&A practice in Poland. David received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Colgate University in 1977, where he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1980 where he was a member of the Management Board of the Virginia Journal of International Law. He is a member of American Bar Association and is admitted to practice in Michigan, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Texas. Markus has eighteen years experience in corporate banking and for more than 15 years has been a leading real estate financier in Central Europe, principally with RHEINHYP and EUROHYPO. In 1997 he set up RHEINHYP’s Central European property lending division, and in 2001 he helped to set up its US operations. In 2002 Markus took over EUROHYPO’s CEE division, including Austria, and served as Head of CEE & Northern Europe and Israel from 2007 to mid 2012. During this time he sourced more than EUR 10bln of CRE debt, with the largest refinancing in CEE of approx. EUR 750mln. Peter has developed and acquired over 200 million Euros worth of real estate in Estonia, Lithuania, Czechia and Portugal. Through its subsidiary Golden Visa Property Investment, Gage Partners is investing in and developing Portuguese properties to be sold to foreigners seeking to benefit from Portugal’s unique visa and personal tax incentive programs, as well as Portugal’s surge in popularity as a tourism destination. The most recent investments are the five star Lumiares Hotel and Spa in Bairro Alto neighbourhood of Lisbon, and the five star Vintage Lisboa Hotel, as well as a handful of 18th and 19th century residential properties in Lisbon under redevelopment as apartment buildings. Gage Partners owns retail real estate in the Baltic States, including Sikupilli Shopping Center in Tallinn. Gage Partners sold NØRDIKA Shopping Valley in Vilnius in 2016. Peter managed Ober-Haus Real Estate Advisors in four countries from the company start-up in 1994 through its sale in June 2007. At the time of its sale, Ober-Haus Real Estate Advisors was the largest property brokerage and advisory firm in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 35 offices and 350 real estate professionals in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, offering asset acquisition and disposal, property valuations, property asset Skip Schwartz is the Managing Director for Heitman’s real estate private equity platform in Asia-Pacific. Based first in Tokyo and now in Hong Kong, Skip has been instrumental in the identification, structuring and completion of the firm’s investments in the region, which currently total approximately $900 million. Previously based in Heitman’s London and Frankfurt offices, Skip was involved in over €1.25 billion of investment, joint venture and development transactions across Central Europe and Germany. During his prior five years in the company’s Chicago headquarters, he was involved in approximately $450 million of transactions across the US. Skip holds MBAs from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and the Goethe Business School at Frankfurt University. He received his BA with honors in International Relations and his MA in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University. Skip is also a member of the Urban Land Institute.Quality Awards
Andreas Ridder, Chairman CEE, CBRE
market. He combines this experience with a particular focus on every client’s business needs.
He joined CBRE in 1991 as Managing Director of the newly founded office in Austria, in this role he established the Vienna office and later the CBRE network in Central and Eastern Europe. He is a Doctor of Law and holds an MBA from INSEAD and an Austrian real estate brokerage license.
Ben Bannatyne, Managing Director Central & Eastern Europe, Prologis
Bernard Mayer, CEO, Europolis Invest
Brian Patterson, Managing Director Poland & Hungary, AIG/Lincoln Eastern Europe
David Dixon, Partner, Norton Rose
Fredrik Wirdenius, President, Skanska Project Development Europe, Skanska
Karim Habra, Managing Director CE, GE Real Estate
Markus Leininger, Managing Partner, SIMRES Real Estate
In October 2012 Markus became a partner in SIMRES Real Estate, a Luxembourg based real estate private equity boutique. He serves as a director of Revetas and Pradera in Luxembourg and is a member of the Advisory Board of Grand City Properties SA. He is a respected voice on commercial real estate issues at international market conferences and events.Neil Gregory-Eaves, Director CEE, Colliers International
Peter Morris, Owner & Managing Director, Gage Partners
Skip Schwartz, Managing Director Private Real Estate Equity Asia Pacific, Heitman International
