Global landlord Grosvenor introduces 'green' leases

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 16, 2020

As businesses and consumers continue to expect retail to change its behaviour post-pandemic, giant landlord Grosvenor said it’s introducing ground-breaking ‘green’ leases.

The property giant owns a huge chunk of London's West End, particularly upscale addresses in Mayfair, and said a florist, Pulbrook & Gould, has become the first retailer to sign up to one of the new leases. For now, they're aimed at driving down carbon emissions and improving air quality across Mayfair and Belgravia.

But it’s significant because Grosvenor isn’t only focused on such areas. Yes, it owns key West End properties such as South Molton Street, Mount Street and Motcomb Street, but it also has properties in other parts of London and the UK (like the giant Liverpool One mall), in Europe, Asia and the Americas. 

Green leases applied more widely could be a key step forward for retail in cities globally.

This first new lease will see the florist working with Grosvenor to collect and share energy consumption data, implement a waste reduction and recycling programme, use only green energy and join a new tenant forum to share experiences and accelerate innovation.

Grosvenor's Britain & Ireland unit said that tenant emissions account for 90% of all operational emissions from buildings owned by it and given that it has almost 1,000 stores and offices in its portfolio, that adds up to a lot of emissions.

It said that in order to meet its ambitious net zero carbon, zero waste and biodiversity goals, “greater partnership with tenants is essential”.

Tor Burrows, Director of Sustainability & Innovation, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland said: “Working together, landlords and tenants can drive down emissions much faster, creating healthier, more sustainable places. We’re also acutely aware of the cost pressures on businesses and the changes to leases only include no cost or low-cost initiatives.”

In detail, the new leases will see Grosvenor collecting, analysing and acting on tenant energy and water consumption data; procuring 100% deep green energy for tenants “at highly competitive and less volatile prices”; preparing EPCs for buildings and determining landlord’s works necessary to improve environmental performance; pre-agreeing a dilapidations payment, avoiding the risk of duplicated works at the end of the lease; expanding waste and delivery consolidation programmes to reduce traffic and pollution; and providing opportunities for training and knowledge-sharing.