The Collective’s Berlin development manager, Chris Roche, has left the company and it has gained former Savills’ planner Jermaine Browne.
Roche worked for two years at the community living specialist, initially focusing on new development acquisition and later taking the lead on Berlin development.
He was one of two employees working on German development. The Collective said his role would not be replaced this year, despite ambitious plans to grow its co-living offering in both Berlin and Frankfurt. It has a total of 10 people in the development team across London and Germany.
Jermaine Browne has joined the co-living developer as a planning associate director in London.
A spokesperson from the Collective said: “Chris was a valued member of the team and we wish him all the best with his future career.
“Jermaine has several years’ commercial and public sector planning experience, having previously worked in the planning team at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as an area team leader. He will be responsible for working with the business’s partners in the public sector and local communities, and delivering game-changing projects across London.”
The news comes after a rocky end to the year for the Collective, which saw the sale of its £125m Old Oak scheme in Harlesden to Newham Council’s PRS company fall through, leading to a management buyout in October.
Earlier in the year, chief executive Reza Merchant announced plans for the co-living developer to launch in the US and Germany, with plans to open three sites in the US and three in Germany. Although he declined to confirm the sites, he noted that Berlin had been an area of interest.
The Collective has raised more than $670m in capital so far, the equity and debt of which comes from a mix of UK and international financial institutions as well as family offices.
The funds have been used to acquire sites, develop projects and build its platform. It currently has 6,500 units operating or under development in the UK, Germany and the US, 6,000 of which were secured in 2018.
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