REIT Investors Benefit from Sustainability Reporting Convergence, Forest City Executive Says

Jill Ziegler, director of sustainability and corporate responsibility with Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCE.A), joined REIT.com for a video interview at NAREIT’s 2015 Leader in the Light Working Forum in Reston, Va.

Ziegler said Forest City learned “a lot” in putting out its first sustainability report to the public a year ago.

“We’ve received a really good response from all of our stakeholders, including our internal associates as well as external stakeholders like investors,” she said.

Jill Ziegler

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GRESB Seeing Increased Interest in Green Bonds from Institutional Investors

Nils Kok, founder and executive director of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), joined REIT.com for a video interview at NAREIT’s 2015 Leader in the Light Working Forum in Reston, Va.

GRESB is an industry-driven organization that assesses the sustainability performance of real estate portfolios around the globe. Kok noted that during the past 18 months, he has observed an increasing interest in “green bonds” from fixed-income investors. The proceeds from these bonds are used to finance sustainability initiatives.

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Senior Housing Properties Trust CEO Sees Broad Benefits from Demographic Trends

David Hegarty, president and COO of Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

Hegarty explained that, despite its name, almost 50 percent of the company’s assets consist of medical office buildings, with senior housing accounting for the remaining portion. The majority of the properties, which are spread across 39 states, are triple net-leased.

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Commercial Real Estate Poised to Gain from Positive Market Fundamentals in 2015

The commercial real estate industry is poised for broad-based growth in the coming year as performance and profitability continue to improve across most property types and markets, according to projections from consulting firm Deloitte.

The company’s 2015 outlook is supported by improving property fundamentals, a strengthening economy, easy financing, and increased domestic and international investment activity, according to Deloitte. Against that backdrop, U.S. REITs are expected to continue to outperform benchmark indices such as the S&P 500 and Russell 2000.

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REIT Bondholders Benefitting from Strong Corporate Governance, Fitch Ratings Finds

Most U.S. Equity REITs have strong corporate governance attributes that benefit bondholders, and they should ease their concerns about the impact of investor activism, according to a report from ratings agency Fitch Ratings, Inc.

Based on its review of 64 U.S. Equity REITs, Fitch concluded that “corporate governance is pretty strong for bondholders in the REIT space,” said Sean Pattap, a senior director at Fitch. “The positives outweigh the negatives,” he added.

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Prologis: Leasing Demand From E-Commerce Sector Doubled in Last Three Years

Global leasing demand  from the e-commerce sector has doubled during the last three years, and the strong growth trend is expected to continue, according to a new report from industrial REIT Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD).

“Online fulfillment is in its infancy, and we anticipate e-commerce will create significant new demand for logistics real estate well into the future,” said Chris Caton, vice president and head of Prologis’ research arm.

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