Catherine Roome believes all organizations require transformation.

"There's this interesting saying right now that the rate of change in an organization has to match the rate of change outside," the recently appointed CEO and president of Concert Properties said. 

"For Concert, we're really looking to navigate the complexity of the current market," she told RENX in an interview. "We want to have radical transparency. That's sort of what I am all about, (to) move to a place where we can tell our story to new investors, new pension funds, and really seek different partners and additional partners for capital.”

The longtime B.C. executive will start the job at the end of May, taking over from interim CEO John Dooling, who will now focus solely on his responsibilities as managing director and CFO. 

Roome shares motivations to seek big job

Several motivations drove Roome to this position. 

“Concert's got an enviable reputation; certainly, its founders set it up in a way that integrity is kind of baked into it as an organization," Roome said. "It's a really unique ownership structure with both the pension and the institutional investors."

Importantly for Roome, she wanted to pick up where the late Christine Bergeron left off. Bergeron became ill while serving as Concert's president and CEO, and died from brain cancer in February. Bergeron was successful in many ways and her death was extremely sad for her family, friends and colleagues, Roome said.

"We were friends and colleagues, and it's always wonderful to see a very successful woman leader," Roome said.  

It was also difficult for Concert. “She was leading them in their new strategy," Roome said. "(I had a) feeling like, okay, there's still a role for a leader to step in and support and I wanted to help, if I could."

“Catherine is a highly accomplished, transformational leader with a strong track record of delivering results across a range of organizations,” said Concert’s board chair, Ivan Limpright, in the announcement.

“She brings values that align with our culture, along with a proven ability to develop exceptional teams. Her forward-thinking leadership, financial discipline and expertise in navigating complex environments make her exceptionally well suited to lead Concert well into the future.” 

Roome held leadership roles at Technical Safety BC and Atira 

Roome has over three decades of leadership experience across infrastructure, regulation and public-interest organizations. 

She previously spent a decade as president and CEO of Technical Safety BC, an industry regulatory agency. Most recently, she was interim CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society, B.C.’s largest supportive housing organization. 

At Atira, Roome was responsible for guiding the organization through a challenging period. 

In 2023, an investigation into BC Housing and Atira found mismanagement and conflict of interest. An audit of BC Housing showed that B.C. Housing CEO Shayne Ramsay directed funds to Atira without appropriate reviews, despite being married to the non-profit's since-ousted CEO, Janice Abbot. 

Roome said leading Atira in the aftermath provided a unique challenge. "I got asked by the board to help it, because it was in a governance crisis," she said.

Whether a person is a marginalized individual in need of supportive housing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, or somebody seeking their first condo in Toronto, everyone deserves to deal with organizations that help provide a safe and secure home and future, Roome said. 

Roome said developers can't do all the work themselves and having strong stakeholder relationships is a key underlying philosophy she'll bring to Concert.

Concert’s portfolio spans rentals, condos and commercial assets 

Concert Properties was founded in Vancouver in 1989 and has grown into a major developer, owner and operator of commercial and multifamily real estate. Its $6.6-billion portfolio and projects span rental apartments, condominium homes, industrial and office properties. 

Concert is owned by union and management pension plans and institutional investors representing over 200,000 Canadians.

Roome sees herself as an outsider to the development industry. She says her first steps in the role will be listening and talking to stakeholders, clients and investors. "That's probably the most important thing I need to do in the first month," she said. 

"The job of the CEO is up and out.” Roome said that means supporting Concert’s board, which she described as “excellent”, but also managing relationships with partners and investors in the market. 

New job starts amid housing market struggles

Roome takes the job at the time the development industry is struggling to bring successful housing projects to market. 

The downturn in the condo pre-sale market in major cities including Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area is no longer a surprise to anyone.

"It's a super challenging environment," Roome said. "Without knowing all of my peers, I do think that every organization is really having to get super serious about what its magic sauce is.”

She said the company has been around for nearly 40 years and plans to be around for many generations to come.

"What are the strengths of your team around you, and how do you double down on that? I'm super, super stoked to be the person who's going to support that team to continue to be excellent."