EPRA has added what might be described as a softer touch with its inaugural Outstanding Contribution to Society Awards.
The latest annual conference of Europe’s Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) contained all the elements that regular attendees have become familiar with since it started organising the event more than a decade ago. Journalists who attended the early morning press conference ahead of the second day of the programme last week were treated to a cocktail of EPRA’s latest advocacy initiatives, research papers outlining why more institutional investors will gravitate towards the sector in due course and reports showing how Europe’s listed real estate companies are lifting their game in terms of best practices in annual reporting and sustainability performance.
Highlights on the main day of the conference also followed a tried and trusted format favoured by many industry organisations, with a full-on programme including expert views on the current socio-political climate from the likes of financial historian Niall Ferguson and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the tech trends affecting the real estate sector and an update on global investment flows.
Data fetishists were not disappointed either and Peter Papadakos, an analyst with London-based Green Street Advisors, provided a convincing case for why property values will stabilise or rise in Continental Europe, while in the UK they will stabilise or fall. Plenty of thought-provoking views and hard data to mull over for even the most seasoned real estate investors.
A softer touch
But there was also what some would possibly describe as a softer touch at this year’s edition of the conference - the presentation of the inaugural Outstanding Contribution to Society Awards. In an address prepared ahead of the conference which I was due to give as jury chair of the new awards, I lauded EPRA for the initiative, saying I found it really inspiring to see how some of the EPRA members are not only doing their job but at the same time making a difference in society. Similar words to this effect were conveyed at the actual conference by my London-based colleague, PropertyEU finance editor Jane Roberts, who replaced me at the last minute due to illness. She is pictured here with the winner Christian Windfuhr, CEO of Grand City Properties.
It may seem that I am labouring the latter point and focusing attention on a side issue, but in my opinion it cannot be emphasised often enough that real estate companies - whether they are listed or not - have an important role to play in society. Making an outstanding contribution to society should in effect become second nature for them, just as it is for so many of them now to be transparent in their reporting and to follow best practices in the field of sustainability. EPRA’s new awards initiative is, I believe, a step in the right direction.
Grand City Properties won the award for its Social Tenant Manager programme which it launched in 2013. The company claims it is the only German real estate company with a 24/7, free of charge service centre for its residential complexes. The social tenant workers liaise with the company’s tenants (which may include immigrants, unemployed people, handicapped individuals etc) and try to cut through language and cultural barriers.
So who were the other contenders? In terms of countries, the UK and France led the way with no fewer than five contenders each. Belgium also had a good innings, accounting for three of the 18 submissions, ahead of Germany with two, and Finland, Ireland and Sweden with one each. In total EPRA received 24 submissions, out of which 18 projects qualified to enter the competition.
The jury, which also included Saira Choudhry, Director, PwC UK Real Estate; Jon Lovell, Co-Founder & Director, Hillbreak; and Matthew Ulterino, Member of UNEP FI Property Working Group, evaluated the submissions according to three criteria: the extent/scale of their impact; their innovativeness/uniqueness; and corporate endeavour to make the project happen.
Two categories
The 18 projects fell into one of two categories. The first category included a type of construction, refurbishment or repurposing of a building; while the second category comprised corporate initiatives, for example projects aimed at educating or raising awareness on a social challenge in a community. Without exception, the winner and the two runners-up were all from the second category.
This is an important point. Four of the 18 submissions were from the first category and included projects like Gecina’s 55 Amsterdam in Paris, the first office in France to receive the Well Core & Shell and BiodiverCity labels, and Cloud by Inmocolonial and Société Foncière Lyonnais, which involved the renovation of historical buildings and creating a cutting-edge office tailored to the needs of the new economy and supporting the health and wellbeing of its occupants with a high environmental performance.
These projects are without a doubt commendable and offer interesting and possibly even extraordinary solutions to modern-day requirements. But, according to the jury, you would expect a real estate company to incorporate the best possible standards in terms of construction, efficiency, sustainability and wellness as part of their normal business.
It is no coincidence therefore that the winner and the two runners-up all fell under the second category: each of them go a step further in engaging with the broader community in an innovative way through their developments. Each of these projects also embody a broader vision of the impact of a real estate development or asset in the community and reflect a willingness to take responsibility towards multiple stakeholders.
For the sake of completion, UK REIT LandSec and Helsinki-listed retail specialist Citycon were the two runners-up. LandSec was runner-up for its Community Employment Programme (CEP) which it launched in 2012 to address the social challenge of unemployment in the UK. The UK has one of the highest levels of youth unemployment in the developed world, but the country’s construction industry is struggling to fill a severe skills gap, with more than 182,000 construction jobs that need to be filled by 2018.
The second runner-up Citycon harnessed its own shopping centre expertise and network to addresses a social issue – the need for greater entrepreneurship in Finland - in a creative and stimulating way, the jury said. Entrepreneurship has traditionally been seen as a big risk in Finland and young people in particular have been reluctant to start their own businesses.
Each of the three prize-winning projects will be profiled in greater depth in the next issue of PropertyEU and hopefully they will inspire others to see how they can make their developments more socially relevant.
Judi Seebus
Editor in Chief
