Baber’s move from London First, where he was executive director for policy, planning and development, comes as Matt Nicholson joins Terence O’Rourke from property firm CBRE and will as special projects director run the company's London office.
Nicholson - who at CBRE was a director within its London planning team - will in his new role initially be involved with "a strategic land review for a major international developer looking to undertake large-scale residential schemes", Terence O’Rourke said. He will also advise on "a significant town centre regeneration project", the firm added.
Baber, meanwhile, joins the consultancy as equity director and will "aim to grow the presence of Terence O’Rourke in the capital", he said. He will seek to identify new business for developments on both major opportunities and estate regeneration schemes, he added.
A statement said that Baber will have a "strategic role at Terence O’Rourke, working with existing clients and exploring new opportunities across the UK".
Baber, who is a member of the Department for Communities and Local Government's planning sounding board, said: "I bring knowledge of the London planning context including the City Hall and borough expectations."
Nicholson’s departure as director of planning at CBRE comes after it emerged last month that Stuart Robinson is relinquishing his role as chairman and head of planning at the firm to act as a consultant to the company on part-time basis. Ian Anderson also departed the firm in July to join rival Cushman & Wakefield.
In a statement, CBRE said that its "market leading planning team is one of the largest in the UK and includes seven directors, working under the guidance of managing director Emma Davies".
The statement added that "it is our priority to ensure that we have the strongest team to provide best possible service to our clients at all times. As part of the natural progression within our team, Richard Lemon has recently been promoted to director level".
The statement continued: "In addition we bolstered our team last year with the hiring of Chris Argent in Manchester, who has a particular expertise for retail and town centre developments, giving us broader national coverage. This complements our existing team and we continue to look at highly skilled individuals, in line with client demand."
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