Two departures and one promotion: Central Real Estate Committee reorganizes management

The Central Real Estate Committee (ZIA) has appointed Torsten Labetzki to its management board, effective August 1, 2025. Labetzki was previously a member of the real estate association's executive board. Gunther Adler and Joachim Lohse are stepping down from the management.

Adler will leave ZIA at his own request on July 31, 2025. Lohse will reach retirement age in the fall and will retire at the end of the year.

Labetzki takes over operational business processes

In his new role, Labetzki will be responsible for legal, tax, finance & controlling, event management, member management, and human resources. "As Chief Operating Officer (COO), he will be responsible for the management and integration of internal operational business processes at the management level," says Iris Schöberl, President of the ZIA. Labetzki will also lead ZIA Service together with Fabian Boeck.

Managing Director Aygül Özkan will be responsible for the policy areas of housing, commercial real estate, urban development, and construction, as well as digitalization/innovation and public relations. A third Managing Director will be appointed at the beginning of the year and will be responsible for climate and energy policy, sustainability, capital market, sustainable finance, and Europe.

From August, the Europe and Capital Markets/Sustainable Finance departments as well as the Housing, Construction, Urban Development and Commercial Real Estate departments will be merged.

The ZIA is the leading association of the real estate industry, with more than 30 member associations representing approximately 37,000 companies in the sector. The association is headquartered in Berlin.