2021 Theses Master's

ESG Disclosure and Sustainability Performance of Residential REITs: Empirical Study on Development Projects in New York City

Zhang, Haochen

For the purpose of addressing rising concerns on climate change and displacement, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) released the Guide to ESG Reporting Frameworks in 2019 to monitor REITs' public activities. As a result, higher portion of REITs tend to comply with environmental regulations and social commitments. The study, under such context, aims to identify the missions and strategies for REITs with disclosure and use statistical methods to analyze the disclosure impacts for residential projects in New York City. The performance will be evaluated at the environment, community and resident level with the data quoted from ApartmentRatings.com and other public open data sources on government websites.

The regression outcomes indicate that residential projects with ESG disclosure tend to have better environmental performance, while citywide regulation is the dominant factor in energy consumption. And the projects are more likely to have higher portion of affordable housing programs and less resident complaints. Finally, recommendations for enhancing sustainability performance via the promotion of ESG disclosure are offered for regulatory departments, industry associations, planners and developers.