Special Report: 3 Keys to Unlocking ESG Potential in Real Estate

Grubb Properties takes a unique approach to real estate, with a strategic focus on essential housing that marks it as a leader in the sector.

Grubb Properties’ primary solution to the nationwide housing crisis is its Link Apartments℠ product, which focuses on intelligent design and resident amenities to provide a lower cost, urban infill living opportunity. There are currently 19 Link Apartments℠ communities stabilized or under construction in 11 cities nationwide, totaling 4,935 multifamily units.

As a vertically integrated real estate fund manager and developer, Grubb Properties acquires, develops, and manages these communities so it can ensure quality throughout each community’s lifecycle. In developing Link Apartments,℠ the focus is on two key differentiators: location and price point. Grubb Properties selects urban locations near community amenities, transit options, and major counter-cyclical employment anchors such as universities and medical centers. It also targets rents that are affordable to residents earning 60-140% of area median income.

Grubb Properties achieves those prices in its target locations – where virtually no other multifamily product is being developed at a similar price segment – by driving value through innovative site acquisition, shared parking, tax incentives, grants, and other proven methods. For example, Grubb Properties focuses on six highly efficient floor plan types across its communities. The industry standard often includes more than 25 unit types, which can add cost and an inefficient work process that takes more time.

Leveraging ESG

Grubb Properties views sustainability and ESG as an investment tool that can drive down the recurring cost of utilities for its residents while protecting the environment and improving the communities in which it operates. The firm’s emphasis on essential housing has environmental stewardship and efficiency embedded in its DNA.

To meet the needs of those who earn between 60% and 140% of area median income, Grubb Properties constantly looks for ways to make its communities more cost-effective, efficient and clean. Because Grubb Properties holds and operates its properties with a projected timeframe of at least 10 years, it eschews shortcuts that may look impressive in the short term but don’t hold up long term.

Through creative and progressive building and unit design, Link Apartments℠ are built from the ground up for efficiency. Working with six fundamental floor plans is beneficial on the construction side, project management side, and to the resident experience. For example, every apartment maximizes its space, providing apartments that “live larger” than the nominal square footage might imply.

6 Innovations You Should Know About As a vertically integrated fund manager, Grubb Properties can craft innovations with effects that resonate throughout its strategy, portfolio, and each asset’s life cycle. Here are its six most impactful innovations: Acquiring office buildings with surface parking lots so the land can be rezoned and used to develop multifamily housing. Building shared parking for office and residential uses, thus reducing the number of spaces that need to be built, lowering construction costs, and reducing the land devoted to parking. A pilot program allowing residents to rent a Tesla Model 3 for as little as an hour and up to several days – helping untether residents from the costs of car ownership. A portfolio-wide long-term resident program builds community and financially rewards residents who have earned longevity. Six floor plans at all Link Apartments℠ communities allow for standardization for construction, unit finish, and fit out, while promoting efficient design that reduces residents’ utility cost. Partnership with Copenhagenize Design Co. to plan and design bike- and walk-first neighborhoods and amenities.

Years of experience have enabled Grubb Properties to ensure the floor plans provide efficient luxury with consumer-driven amenities and smart technology. This attention to detail, along with adaptive and efficient heating/ cooling systems, ENERGY STAR® appliances, smart leak sensors to minimize water waste, and LED lighting, also ensures that utility costs are minimized. In fact, Link Apartments℠ residents’ energy bills are on average 15% lower than they would be at comparable properties, and their water bills are 23% lower. Common area energy costs (17%) and water costs (23%) are lower, too.

At its building sites, Grubb Properties is sensitive to environmental concerns including biodiversity preservation, soil impact minimization, and pollution mitigation at brownfield sites. Regionally appropriate, drought-resistant, and pollinator-friendly landscaping is consistently implemented, along with designs that mitigate risks and damage from location-specific weather and natural disasters.

ESG on the move

With sites near greenways and other established public transportation options, Link Apartments’℠ residents can readily minimize their car usage. Grubb Properties provides state-of-the-art cycle centers in all its communities and encourages electric vehicle use by providing EV chargers.

As part of environmental oversight at the property level, internal and third-party reviews of utility data and maintenance practices ensure that high-performance building efficiency is maintained during the life of the asset. Strategies include systematic retro-commissioning, preventative maintenance, and regular year-over-year internal and external utility benchmarking. In addition, Grubb Properties property managers undergo regular ESG training and self-assessments, and utility consumption is a topic included on every property manager’s annual evaluation.