Every so often, we look at when Philip became a ULI member and shake our head.  Philip Payne, CEO of Ginkgo Residential (and Babcock & Brown before 2007), joined ULI in October 2000 and was fully immersed from day one.  He is such a strong believer of the ULI mission, you would think he has been a member for more than just 15 years.

A native of Petersburg, Virginia and a graduate of the College of William and Mary (both a BS and JD), he is dedicated to providing high-quality workforce housing.  Philip and his wife, Mary Ruth, have two children and seven grandchildren.  They pride themselves in being active parts of each of their grandchildren’s lives and Philip claims that the grandchildren are his “out of work hobby/interest.”

Philip has been a ULI Governor and was recently selected as a ULI Trustee.  Additionally, he serves on the ULI Charlotte Advisory Board and recently led a group of Young Leaders in a partnership forum.  He believes that “ULI has the potential to make the world a better place.”  He is the founding Chairman of ULI’s Responsible Property Investment (RPI) Council and is co-chairman of ULI’s Climate, Land Use and Energy Committee.  Additionally, Philip is a member of Fannie Mae’s Green Financing Taskforce and the Leadership Council for Garrison Institute’s Climate, Mind and Behavior (CMB) Program.

The coolest real estate project he has participated in was the restoration of Yorktown Apartments in Durham.  He was able to apply the theories of the RPI Council, which include a commitment to deploy capital that generates risk-adjusted market rate returns while creating social and/or environmental value.

Philip says “he is constantly challenged by being around amazing people,” and his favorite quote is to “never, never, never give up.”