Philip Charls, former head of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), joined REIT.com for a video interview at NAREIT's 2017 Washington Leadership Forum at The Hay-Adams.
Charls retired at the end of February after leading EPRA for the past decade.
One of the highlights of those 10 years has been the level of growth in European listed real estate, according to Charls.
Twelve European nations, accounting for about 24 percent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), now have REIT regimes in place, he said. “Major progress” has been made in Italy, Spain and Ireland, he noted.
Charls pointed to further opportunities to expand the REIT regime into countries including Poland, Portugal and Sweden. He added that Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA’s new head and former BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management chief executive, is the right person to “lift EPRA to the next level.”