Urban Investment Partners, a D.C.-based real estate firm focused on development, property management and construction, has brought on a new head of its construction arm.

UIP has hired Gerard Heiber to serve as president of UIP General Contracting. He comes from Sigal Construction Corp., where he served as president for seven years.

Heiber has worked on major D.C.-area projects including the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston, the renovation of the historic Jefferson Hotel and the construction of the 400K SF mixed-use project at 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. He is also a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council and helped write the original specifications for the LEED classification system.

UIP owns and manages roughly 3,000 apartment units in D.C. and Maryland. The firm has been the fifth-most-active D.C. developer since 2012 with 18 projects completed or in the pipeline, according to the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership.

The firm last month delivered a 100-unit Tenleytown apartment building that it converted from the former WAMU office building. While it was reported that UIP is looking to sell another Tenleytown office building, the company said it sought broker opinions on the property's value but has not put it on the market.