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Industry experts discussed the importance and drivers of impact investing, looked at how to measure and report and identify the key challenges faced when looking for suitable impact products. 

Southside, located in central Stockholm is a redevelopment of an office building into a state-of-the-art educational building that will focus on the wellbeing of its occupants, demonstrating strong social value credentials.

Prepared by EQT

Code, located in Paris CBD was a major redevelopment from a car park into a Grade A office with a strong focus on sustainability certifications and occupier health and wellbeing. Several sustainability and health and wellbeing certifications were achieved upon completion.

Prepared by EQT

Allee Center, located in Leipzig (Germany) is a daily needs shopping destination and community hub in the district. Indoor and outdoor greenery, water features and biophilic elements enhance the visitor experience. Active engagement with community groups and charities as well as holding community events have ensured strong links with the local community.

Prepared by EQT

Nuveen’s Private Markets Impact Investing Report highlights its approach to impact investing and how they built their impact strategy over the last decade. Together with the real estate impact investing case studies, the report illustrates how to create a theory of change for impact evaluation and an example of building a responsible exit strategy. 

Theory of Change
Nuveen created a robust Theory of Change connecting its investments to its overarching goal, “to create or preserve safe, affordable, and sustainable housing for low-income individuals and families”. To develop its ToC, Nuveen identified the challenges it seeks to address and the specific types of impact it intends to achieve. Through this process, Nuveen’s team recognized that its impact investment strategy for affordable housing encompasses several sub-strategies creating impact across multiple dimensions beyond access to affordable housing, such as access to social services related to financial inclusion, health and education, and building sustainability.

Responsible Exit
Nuveen’s U.S. affordable housing strategy aims to increase access to sustainable, safe and affordable housing for underserved and low-income communities. 
In 2018, Nuveen invested in Shore Hill Senior Community, an affordable senior housing community located in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, NY. The complex includes studio and one-bedroom rental units and tenants pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. 

As affordability restrictions were due to expire in a few years, there was the threat that a traditional investor could have bought the asset to profit from a sizeable rental uplift when exchanging tenants and modernising housing units. To counter this, Nuveen extended the affordability restrictions, which kept rent costs 45% below market rate for the tenants.

Prepared by Nuveen Global

This short paper aims to clarify the role impact investing can play across the broad spectrum of real estate investments and explains the concepts, frameworks and tools that are currently used across asset classes.

Whilst not conceived as an Impact Strategy, the Carbon Neutral Real Estate (CNRE) Fund is a good example of intentionality aspect of Impact Investment, as the investment thesis is focused on addressing a tangible environmental need, and investment decision making is rooted in meeting this goal in alignment with the  financial objectives of the Fund. CNRE is a joint venture between Columbia Threadneedle Investments, the Carbon Trust and Stanhope, developed specifically to reduce the carbon emissions of the built environment. Columbia Threadneedle explain the strategy here:

“UK office buildings contribute around a fifth of total carbon emissions in the UK. New build, carbon-compliant real estate developments are low in comparison to the total supply, and these buildings can be typically very carbon inefficient to redevelop. The Government's 2050 Net-Zero target, means emissions from existing buildings will need to be reduced by 100%, which realistically can only be achieved via refurbishment of existing buildings, and their ongoing efficient operation. As an institutional manager of UK real estate we have the ability - and the responsibility - to help drive positive outcomes for society. In 2010 we took a pioneering step towards carbon reduction in the built environment by teaming up with Stanhope, one of the UK’s leading commercial developers, and the Carbon Trust, a world-leading adviser to businesses, governments and the public sector on carbon reduction. This partnership between industry experts adds value throughout the entire lifecycle of each office building, from acquisition through refurbishment, leasing and occupation, to ensure carbon emissions are minimised.”

Prepared by Low Carbon Workplace 

The Management Fees and Terms Study analyses the fees and terms structures and rates of non-listed real estate funds.