(LONDON) – Hines, the international real estate firm, is pleased to announce that it has once again been recognized by GRESB for its sustainability leadership in 2021 and cements its position as a GRESB Sector Leader.
The Hines European Core Fund (HECF) has achieved the highest possible rating of five Green stars out of five for an unprecedented fifth year in a row, achieving a score of 96, its highest score to-date and once again coming first in its peer group and being awarded Sector Leader for a fifth consecutive year. Specifically, this year the fund received multiple awards including Overall Global Sector Leader, Global Sector Leader, Overall Regional Sector Leader and Regional Leader in the Diversified category.
The success was repeated for the first time by the Hines European Value Fund 2 (HEVF 2) and the firm’s high street retail account with German pension scheme group BVK (Bayerische Versorgungskammer), with both also awarded five Green stars out of five and emerging with several awards as the Overall Global Sector Leader in the Diversified Office/Retail category and Global Sector Leader in the Mixed-used category, respectively.
Daniel Chang, who has been appointed Head of ESG for Hines Europe, has played an instrumental role in this accomplishment, spearheading HECF’s drive to become the outstanding sustainability sector leader for five years running, and then replicating this success for the firm’s other funds and investment vehicles, such as HEVF 2 and the BVK mandate.
Additionally, Cherrywood in Dublin, Ireland has been awarded five Green stars out of five for the second year in a row topping its peer group once again with a total 2021 GRESB score of 96 out of 100, a four point uplift from its performance in 2020. The project was awarded multiple awards including Global Sector Leader and Overall Regional Sector Leader, in the Opportunistic Mixed-use category. Cherrywood is an emerging master planned mega scheme, which is one of the most sustainable urban developments in Europe, as demonstrated by these results, and one of the largest too.
Peter Epping, Global Head of ESG, at Hines, added, “After a year of unique challenges presented by the pandemic, I am very proud of our teams’ achievement in submitting a record number of portfolios. Environmental, social and governance factors are fundamental to our business and will help drive long-term outperformance. These results emphasize our commitment to the measurement of sustainable investment management practices in our business and across the industry at large, as we look forward to submitting additional projects and portfolios next year and beyond.”
Alex Knapp, CIO - Europe, at Hines commented: “We’re delighted to achieve these truly outstanding GRESB results across our investment management platform, and to be sector leaders across all three categories for HECF, HEVF 2 and the BVK mandate is testament to the strength of our team across Europe. Likewise, for Cherrywood to be recognized with multiple awards reinforces our strength as an ESG focused developer, of which we’re very proud. While in recent years HECF has been our pioneer in our approach to ESG performance, our goal has been to adopt it as a blueprint for our other funds and mandates, so it is extremely gratifying for the HEVF 2 and BVK vehicles to receive similar recognition which is testimony to our rigorous commitment to ESG across our platform. We maintain, and continue to demonstrate, that financial and ESG performance goes hand-in-hand.”
In the US, South Station in Boston was awarded Overall Regional Sector Leader for its sustainable design and preservation efforts taken to maintain the historic South Station train station building. It is a 51 story, 1,020,000-square-foot mixed-used tower. The development will include 711,500 gross square feet of office space and 166 condominium units in 308,500 gross square feet.
The awards mirror Hines’ ongoing commitment to creating a positive societal impact in the communities it operates in and achieving the highest levels of ESG performance across a wide range of areas, including energy performance, stakeholder engagement, building certificates, resilience, social risks and opportunities, water use and management.
Sebastien Roussotte, CEO of GRESB, commented, “Across the globe, organizations are demonstrating a deep commitment to ESG integration while making important strides toward a more sustainable future for us all. Sector Leaders are the organizations setting the pace and driving progress toward a net zero future. We are proud to recognize your determination, achievement, and leadership in creating a more sustainable world.”
Each year, GRESB assesses and benchmarks the ESG performance of assets worldwide, providing clarity and insights to financial markets. The GRESB Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of asset investments and are aligned with international reporting frameworks, goals and emerging regulations. The GRESB ESG Benchmark grew this year to cover more than $6.4 trillion of assets under management, up from $5.3 trillion the year before.
GRESB data is used by hundreds of capital providers and thousands of asset managers to benchmark investments across portfolios and to better understand the opportunities, risks and choices that need to be made as the industry transitions to a more sustainable future.
About Hines
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 255 cities in 27 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately $83.6 billionÂą. In addition, Hines provides third-party property-level services to more than 367 properties totaling 138.3 million square feet. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired approximately 1,486 properties, totaling over 492 million square feet. The firm has more than 171 developments currently underway around the world. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a foundational commitment to ESG, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
1. Includes both the global Hines organization as well as RIA AUM as of 30 June 2021.
About GRESB
GRESB is a mission-driven and industry-led organization providing standardized and validated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data to financial markets. Established in 2009, GRESB has become the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments across the world, used by 140 institutional and financial investors to inform decision-making. For more information, visit GRESB.com
