ESG Considerations for Real Estate Investment and Finance: Key Provisions, ESG Due Diligence, and Asset Management
Recording of a 90-minute premium CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will discuss the increasing focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in real estate finance and investment and the issues real estate investment funds should consider in implementing ESG initiatives in their portfolios. The panel discussion will include ESG due diligence, provisions in fund agreements, and incorporating ESG goals and metrics into real estate asset management.
Outline
- What does ESG mean for the real estate industry
- What are the material elements of ESG specific to real estate
- Which are getting the most attention right now
- How important are they for both compliance and returns
- What about commitments to climate: carbon neutral or net zero
- Who is making them
- What changes are they driving in the industry
- How are companies and investors in the real estate industry minimizing the chances of green-washing
- Review of data available
- Measurement, benchmarking, and reporting
- How should ESG be considered in investments
- Diligence
- Portfolio management: companies and assets
- What about in development
- What is the best new technology to "green" existing buildings and new construction
- How does ESG drive value in the real estate
- Value of underlying assets/properties/rentals
- What is the current regulatory/compliance framework and how do we expect it to change over the next 12-24 months
- What is next for ESG in real estate
Benefits
The panel will review these and other vital issues:
- To what degree are ESG considerations driving real estate fund investing in today's market?
- How might environmental and climate change considerations figure into the valuation of a real estate asset?
- What kinds of due diligence can be conducted on an asset to screen for ESG issues?
- What kinds of tools and metrics can asset managers employ to monitor the ESG performance of a real estate portfolio?
Faculty
Susan H. (Suz) Mac Cormac
Partner; Chair of the Energy and Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Practices
Morrison & Foerster
Ms. Mac Cormac’s practice focuses on late-stage financings, secondaries, and other corporate transactions for... | Read More
Ms. Mac Cormac’s practice focuses on late-stage financings, secondaries, and other corporate transactions for investors, such as SoftBank and Temasek, and on investments for some of the top investors dedicated to impact, from “impact first” foundations to family offices to private equity funds. She co-led the drafting group for the first of the new corporate forms (the Social Purpose Corporation in California), has created hybrid/tandem corporate structures and crafted debt and equity instruments that blend impact with traditional financial terms, and has used corporate law to develop creative capital market solutions to pressing environmental problems. She also advises the boards of public and private companies on corporate governance and fiduciary duties as applied to sustainability and climate change.
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Thomas E. Tether
Of Counsel
Morrison & Foerster
Mr. Tether has 30 years of experience in real estate, finance, construction, and corporate law. His experience includes... | Read More
Mr. Tether has 30 years of experience in real estate, finance, construction, and corporate law. His experience includes real property acquisitions and dispositions; commercial mortgage financing; complex joint ventures and partnerships; negotiating and closing complex, multiparty transactions; project financing through various governmental and private sector debt and equity sources; large-scale mixed-use property development projects; drafting and negotiating related transaction documentation and business agreements; corporate finance; mergers and acquisitions; leveraged leasing; infrastructure development; commercial leasing; loan workouts; bankruptcies; and litigation. Mr. Tether has experience with virtually all real estate asset classes, including multifamily, office, retail, industrial, and hospitality.
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Angela Jin
General Counsel
First Street Foundation
Ms. Jin is the General Counsel for First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research and technology group dedicated to... | Read More
Ms. Jin is the General Counsel for First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research and technology group dedicated to quantifying and communicating climate change risks for every property in the United States. The Foundation has developed the first comprehensive, publicly available, property level climate risk models in the United States. The Foundation’s data is leveraged by industry and governments for use in critical analysis of the potential impact of climate perils on infrastructure, mortgage and housing market inefficiencies, government spending and taxes, and vulnerable communities. Ms. Jin started her legal career with law firms Jones Day and Hawkins Delafield & Wood in New York, and was previously at WeWork, the leading global flexible space provider.
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Suzanne L. Wilder
General Counsel
CGI Merchant Group
Ms. Wilder brings over 10 years of commercial real estate experience to CGI Merchant Group LLC. She has handled... | Read More
Ms. Wilder brings over 10 years of commercial real estate experience to CGI Merchant Group LLC. She has handled transactions pertaining to the acquisition, disposition, leasing and financing of office, retail, mixed-use, condominium, multifamily and senior housing assets. Additionally, Ms. Wilder has comprehensive experience in legal matters regarding real property, contracts, joint ventures, corporate governance, fund formation, and human resources. Ms. Wilder earned her JD from St. Thomas University School of Law, where she was on the Dean’s List. She holds a BSc from Nova Southeastern University, with a major in Business and Professional Management.
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