10 December 2024 – The urban investment platform Urban Partners announces that it has promoted three longstanding team members to Partners as it continues to bolster its leadership bench across markets and functions to support the €21bn business’ growth. The promotions increase the partnership to 26 and mark a pivotal period of expansion for Urban Partners as it looks to mobilize the urban value chain and solve problems for cities, people and planet, while creating value for its investors on its journey towards building the world’s leading and most competent urban investor.

The three new partners are: Carl-Adam von Schéele, Head of Sweden for Nrep; Lesley Lanefelt, Head of Nordic Investments for Velo Capital, and Sanna Gurevich-Weiß, Fund Manager and COO for Velo Capital.

Carl-Adam is Head of Nrep in Sweden and has played a key role in cementing the business as a leading investor in this market, with a portfolio of approx. €5,2bn of assets, predominantly concentrated in the residential and logistics sectors, while being instrumental in establishing its successful care home investment platform. Since stepping into his leadership role 18 months back, he’s led the Swedish Nrep team in capturing unique investment opportunities of approx. €1,5 billion in a dislocated market, for example through the acquisition of a majority stake in residential developer Klövern, and the largest ever care home acquisition in the market of €420 million. In addition to his proven investment strategy and execution skillset, his success can be equally attributed to his values-based leadership, as he has strengthened the Swedish team while navigating market shifts as a trusted leader.

Lesley is Head of Nordic Investments for Velo Capital and is a highly experienced real estate financier who has spearheaded Velo Capital’s successful launch in the Nordic markets. Her responsibilities include leading deal origination and execution in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, in addition to Velo’s green financing strategy, overseeing borrower relations management, and fundraising. Lesley has 20 years of experience in real estate debt and equity investments, and has been involved in financing €2.4bn worth of European real estate projects across all sectors. Beyond playing a key role in Velo’s transactions, she is a respected mentor and trusted leader, role modelling leadership with strong integrity to her team and the wider business.

Sanna is the COO and Fund Manager at Velo Capital, bringing 17 years of experience in real estate and leveraged finance. She moved across to Velo Capital in 2022 after four years at Urban Partners’ real estate investment strategy, Nrep, where she served as Head of Financing. At Nrep, Sanna played a key role in shaping the company’s financing strategy and building its origination and execution teams during a phase of rapid growth and multiple fund launches. She oversaw transactions totalling approximately €1.2 billion, demonstrating her expertise in complex deal execution. Sanna’s leadership skills and proven track record highlight her deep industry knowledge and ability to deliver impactful results.

The recognition of each new Partner’s contribution reflects Urban Partners’ abiding tradition of promoting home-grown talent into leadership positions and relying on proven individuals to uphold the company’s purpose and value-led culture, leading a +700 strong team across eight countries.

Jens Stender, Co-CEO Urban Partners: “There is no greater pride than welcoming longstanding and dedicated team members to Urban Partners’ Partner group having witnessed their respective achievements over the past number of years. Each individual brings a valuable new perspective to the Partner group, whilst epitomising many of our core values and sharing the leadership team’s commitment to building the world’s most competent urban investor.

“Our people are our most valuable assets – what I often refer to as our secret sauce – which is why we look forward to nurturing our new Partners continued development and supporting each of them in taking their boundless potential to new levels to the benefit of our entire business and the stakeholders that we serve.”

For further details, contact:

Anna Hillinge, Head of Communications, +4521136243 / anhi@urban.partners