Shop Green ‘Til You Drop!

Regency Centers (NYSE:REG), the country’s leading national owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers announced a major green building initiative yesterday. Jerry Yudelson served as the consultant to the company’s task force that developed the initiative.

Regency adopted the recommendations of its green building task force formed last year to study how Regency might best incorporate environmental sustainability into its business strategy and operations. In addition, Regency formed a partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to create a method that to LEED-certify new shopping center developments, something that is very difficult to do under the current LEED rating systems. In its announcement, Regency said it has committed to LEED-certify 20 percent of its 2008 development starts, 40 percent of 2009’s starts and 60 percent of its 2010 development starts. In addition, beginning next year, the Company will incorporate LEED certification into redevelopments of existing properties. Regency’s CEO Hap Stein said, “Regency strives to be a leader in the shopping center industry. Becoming a sustainable owner and LEED developer is not only the right thing to do, it’s something we’re committed to, and thanks to the hard work and diligent research of our task force, we have a plan to make Regency a more sustainable company thereby lessening our impact on the environment.” Regency owns nearly 450 retail properties, so this announcement marks the beginning of what I think will be a huge trend for the retail industry.

Posted by on 11/02/2007 at 01:34 PM