Month: February 2020

Daniele Horton, founder and president of Verdani Partners, participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program designed to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Horton commented on whether investors are putting more pressure on real estate portfolios to participate in third-party ESG disclosures, like GRESB.

“The market is really shifting toward measurable, high-impact solutions that generate competitive financial returns,” she said.

Mark Delisi, vice president of corporate responsibility at AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE: AVB), participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program designed to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Delisi discussed key milestones along AvalonBay’s ESG reporting journey, noting that “the important thing about reporting for us is that it’s a means not an end.”

Daniel Egan, senior vice president for energy and sustainability at Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program designed to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Egan led a JumpStart workshop looking at why the social aspect of ESG has been a challenge for companies to address or fully disclose.

Ben Myers, vice president of sustainability at Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP), participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program designed to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Myers discussed the importance for companies to set clearly defined sustainability goals.

“Goals clearly communicate the intent of an organization and communicate collective action,” he said.

Kelly Meissner, director of sustainability at Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR), participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program designed to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Meissner talked about key issues related to data management that companies in the early stages of developing an ESG program should consider.

Aaron Binkley, senior director of sustainability programs at Digital Realty (NYSE:DLR), participated in a video interview at Nareit's 2020 ESG JumpStart Workshop, a one-day program to teach Nareit corporate members the core skills needed to launch—or improve—an ESG program of any size.

Binkley discussed some of the most important steps to starting an ESG program from scratch.

“Early on, you want to assess the materiality of the topics you’re going to be focusing on and to do that, you want to be talking to key stakeholders,” he said.

While the growth in the supply of short-term rental (STR) units has tempered in recent years, the STR market is an important factor in valuation calculations for the traditional lodging sector, according to Jamie Lane, senior managing economist of CBRE Americas Hotels Research.

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG) said Feb. 10 that it has agreed to take a controlling stake in fellow retail real estate REIT Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE: TCO) in a cash deal valued at approximately $3.6 billion.