(LONDON) – Hines, a global real estate investment, development, and property manager, today announced that it has once again been recognised by GRESB for its sustainability leadership in 2022. All of Hines’ European entries received five out of five green stars, three out of the four were peer group leaders and two were Global Sector Leaders, furthering its position at the forefront of ESG action in the real estate sector.
The Hines European Core Fund (HECF) achieved the highest possible rating of five green stars out of five for the sixth year in a row, once again coming first in its peer group and being awarded Global Sector Leader for a sixth consecutive year. HECF received multiple awards including Global Sector Leader in the Diversified category, Global Non-listed Sector Leader in the Diversified category and Regional Sector Leader – Europe in the Diversified category.
The Hines European Value Fund 2 (HEVF 2) and the firm’s high street retail account with German pension scheme group BVK (Bayerische Versorgungskammer), were both awarded five green stars out of five. HEVF 2 increased its score from 92 to 94 points, well above the peer group average of 76, and ranked first out of 147 in the Management Score within the Europe, Non-Listed, Value Added category. BVK achieved first position out of 12 against its peers, improving its score by 1 point to 91. It too ranked first out of 554 others in the Management Score within the Europe, Non-Listed, Core category.
Cherrywood in Dublin, Ireland, was awarded five green stars out of five for a third year in a row topping its peer group once again with a total 2022 GRESB score of 99 out of 100, a three-point uplift from its performance in 2021. The project achieved four awards in total including Global Sector Leader – Mixed Use, Global Non-listed Sector leader – Mixed Use, Overall Regional Sector Leader, Europe – Mixed Use, and Regional Non-listed Sector leader, Europe – Mixed Use. The Cherrywood Town Centre residential led mixed-use development is made up of 1,268 apartments with associated retail, food and beverage and car parking which is being developed by Hines and APG Asset Management. The development is one of the most sustainable urban developments in Europe, as demonstrated by these results.
Lars Huber, CEO - Europe, at Hines, commented: “To achieve these GRESB results is testament to our focus on ESG and our ambitious approach to decarbonise the built environment. We can safely say creating a low carbon economy is one of the industry’s key challenges and we all must all take real, meaningful and sustained action. For our investment management platform to achieve such results for HECF, HEVF 2 and BVK demonstrates our real and deep desire to really spearhead positive change for the benefit of both people and the planet. Likewise, for Cherrywood in Dublin to achieve a record score of 99 out of 100 is unassailable and reinforces our strength as an ESG focused placemaker, of which we’re very proud.”
Daniel Chang, European Head of ESG, at Hines, added: “At Hines, we are deeply committed to addressing climate change and ensuring that our buildings are taking the necessary tangible steps to make a positive impact. Our results this year are very strong given GRESB participation increases year-on-year, and average GRESB scores have dropped across the board comparative to last year. We believe the GRESB survey provides a widely recognised framework that levels the understanding of ESG in real estate – and are delighted that our portfolios continued to outperform. Underpinning these strong results is a comprehensive approach, with our vertically integrated teams coordinating the countless initiatives. We will strive to build on these successes in the years to come.”
The rankings demonstrate 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.
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.
About Hines
Hines is a global real estate investment, development and property manager. The firm was founded by Gerald D. Hines in 1957 and now operates in 28 countries. We manage a $92.3B portfolio of high-performing assets across residential, logistics, retail, office, and mixed-use strategies. Our local teams serve 634 properties totaling over 225 million square feet globally. We are committed to a net zero carbon target by 2040 without buying offsets.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 17 cities as well as a presence in 79 cities in 14 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately €25.3 billion and provides third-party property-level services totaling 4.7 million square meters in Europe, in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
To learn more about Hines, visit www.hines.com and follow @Hines on social media.
¹Includes both the global Hines organization as well as RIA AUM as of June 30, 2022.
About GRESB
GRESB is a mission-driven and industry-led organisation providing standardised 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 institutional and financial investors to inform decision-making. 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.
For more information, visit GRESB.com
