CEO Walter de Boer to leave BPD after more than three decades
Walter de Boer, BPD’s CEO, commented as follows: "Having worked energetically at BPD for over 30 years, the time has come for me to take things easier and entrust the leadership of the organisation to others. We recently announced that Alianne de Jong (CFRO) will soon be joining the BPD managing board, serving on it alongside Gea Voorhorst (COO) and myself, and at short notice, my successor."
Mariëlle Lichtenberg, a member of Rabobank’s group management board and the chair of BPD’s general meeting of shareholders, added: "On behalf of Rabobank, I would like to thank Walter de Boer very much for everything he has done for BPD – and Rabobank – over the past decades. Under his leadership, BPD has grown to become the leading area developer in the Netherlands and Germany that we know today. Rabobank came to know and appreciate him as a constantly knowledge-driven, entrepreneurial and spirited leader with a passion for his field, and he has remained as such until this day. We will be incorporating his perspective on spatial planning and the housing markets in the Netherlands and Germany into the further development of BPD over the coming years." "Personally speaking, I am proud of what we have accomplished and achieved on the European housing markets over the past decades through the organisation,” added De Boer, “particularly when it comes to the Dutch and German housing markets. Until the late 1980s, BPD was the supplier of choice for subsidised category A, B and C owner-occupied homes. In the 1990s, we transformed into a company focusing entirely on area development, using land purchases and exploitations as the driving force behind sustainable and affordable housing. Sustainable and affordable housing is and will remain BPD’s core focus. BPD Woningfonds, our unique mid-market rental investment fund, was launched in 2019 to complement this and has been so successful that we will be growing it even further."
"Today, more than one million people live in residential areas in which BPD was involved. That’s a staggering number and it still manages to impress me. For more than 75 years now, BPD has been trusted by municipalities, provinces, central government, social housing associations, our construction partners and other developers to help address the still urgent demand for housing. I am very grateful to all the partners we work with and would like to thank them. It goes without saying that BPD, as the market leader, will be fully committed to continuing to live up to the trust shown in it every day over the decades to come."
"I will remain involved as an advisor until April next year and will hand over my duties and responsibilities to my successor once selected. I will, of course, be saying a personal goodbye to the many colleagues and associates I have come to know over the past three decades. I will then leave BPD, confident in the knowledge that it is in the capable hands of the management teams and all of its staff in the Netherlands and Germany," said De Boer.
