Arabic

Prof. Geoffrey Booth

University of Texas A& M

 In a career begun in Australia in the late 1970s, Geoffrey Booth built an enviable track record of achievement and expertise in real estate development, finance, investment, city policy and planning. He held senior executive positions in Australia’s largest metropolitan government, the Brisbane City Council; Tobishima Corporation of Japan; founded and ran his own company, Planning Australia Pty. Ltd., was recruited in late 1999 to the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., and accepted appointment as the Youngblood Endowed Professor of Land Development at Texas A&M University in 2009.

In his ten years at the Brisbane City Council, Geoffrey ran the City’s development assessment branch; negotiated major urban development projects; developed the Town Plan as a prospectus for economic growth; and, integrated urban policy into the city budget. He held various positions in the Department of Planning and C0-ordination; the Lord Mayor’s Office; and, founded the Office of Economic Development. In 1985 as Hon. Federal Secretary of the Royal Australian Planning Institute, he devised the Institute’s first corporate plan.

After a 1987 career shift to the private sector, Tobishima Corporation of Japan appointed Geoffrey to the position of Director of their Australian subsidiary companies. The appointment of a non-Japanese national to this position was unusual and indicates a high level of respect and trust. Geoffrey took over responsibility for financing, development management, leasing, marketing, and property management of Tobishima’s AUD $300 million retail, office, industrial and residential property portfolio; and, its property trusts (REITs), which included the Aushima Australia Property Fund. In 1994, Geoffrey reviewed Tobishima’s U.S. property portfolio.