Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
“Our purpose is to create places for communities, where people can meet up, connect, shop, work and enjoy.” — Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield1
Company
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield2
www.urw.com
Headquarters
Paris, France
Market Cap
USD $27.8 billion
Company History
1959 Westfield opens in Sydney
1968 Unibail founded in Paris
2007 Unibail & Rodamco merger
2018 Westfield acquired
Properties
113
Green Building Certifications
38
*Data as of June 30, 2018.
Who is Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield?
You might recognize the Westfield name – you see it emblazoned on the side of malls in sweeping red lights. Unibail-Rodamco, a European REIT, recognized that brand value and purchased the Australia-based Westfield in 2018. Now ‘URW’ is one of the largest owners of shopping centers in the world. They also count major airports like LAX, Miami, O’Hare and JFK in their portfolio. Iconic properties include the World Trade Center in NYC, and the Paris Expo, a major sporting venue hosting the summer Olympics in 2024.4
URW buildings often feature a mix of modern steel and glass that are architecturally interwoven. The properties use abundant glass to allow natural light to illuminate the indoor spaces. They are often located close to mixed-use transport hubs and where feasible have installed electric plug-in stations.
Consumers today are more aware than ever of how their purchases affect people, and the planet. How can shopping centers take a leadership role in developing solutions? URW has a comprehensive framework for tackling many environmental and social issues with “The Better Places 2030 Strategy.”
The Better Places 2030 Strategy
By creating better places, we move towards a low-carbon economy, anticipate new modes of sustainable mobility, fully integrate our business activities with local communities, and engage all
of our teams and stakeholders. The strategy emphasizes 4 pillars with the simple mindset of “less is better.”5
- Less Carbon Emissions, Better Buildings
- Less Polluting Transport, Better Connectivity
- Less Top-Down, Better Collective Power
- Less Local Unemployment, Better Communities
Strategy Spotlight: Less Local Unemployment, Better Communities
URW recognizes they can play an important role in alleviating unemployment and the shortage of skilled labor.The retailers in URW centers don’t have to “go it alone” as the URW team provides many resources across their communities to help get locals good jobs.
- URW for Jobsis a program that aims to train up and find jobs for 1,000 unskilled young people each year. Training programs build skills capacity and provide economic value to retailers who need help finding quality employees. Thus far, the program is active at 15 centers in Europe.
- URWs “Grand Prize for Young Retail Entrepreneurs” is in its 12thyear. The competition awards entrepreneurswho develop and deploy innovative retail concepts. There are three prizes that share €1.5M ($1.6M USD) towards leasing space or a pop-up shop at one of URW’s shopping centers.
- URW Linkis a 4-month program that allows start-ups to test drive their application with retail tenants. For instance, the tech company Merito helps retailers recruit temporary staff. Start-up Sous les Fraises (Under the Strawberries), created a rooftop urban farm at one of the Paris locations with an accompanying pop-up farmer’smarket in the center.
- Lastly, URW requires 100% of its shopping centers to hold an event in partnership with a local or national non-profit organization.
Memberships and Awards
CDP Climate Change A List6
Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark Sector Leader 20177
1 Unibail-Rodamco (2017). “Sustainability: Shaping Tomorrow – Our CSR Ambition.” Available: https://www.urw.com/en/sustainability
2 Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is 3.05% of the Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate Fund (VGSRX) as of December 31, 2018.
3 BREEAM is Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, one of the world’s first green building certification systems.
4 In 2000, a congress & exhibition division was formed after the takeover of Paris Expo in collaboration with Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This formed VIPARIS in 2008, the European leader in the sector. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (2018). “Unibail-Rodamco Company History.” Available at: https://www.urw.com/en/group/history/history-of-ur
5 Unibail-Rodamco (2017). “Sustainability: Shaping Tomorrow – Our CSR Ambition.” Available: https://www.urw.com/en/sustainability.
6 CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield scored a place on the Climate Change A List by CDP. The Westfield acquisition was finalized after CDP’s assessment. This assessment covers the Continental European perimeter only. For their 2018 results, Westfield scored A- in the CDP Climate Change List.
7 GRESB – the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark collects data each year on real estate entities who pay to participate. Sector leaders perform the best in their peer categories. They are the real estate companies and funds taking measurable steps to incorporate sustainability into their operations and communicate their performance to investors and other stakeholders.
Please refer to the Prospectus for full risk disclosures. All data as of June 30, 2018 and subject to change daily.