DEFINITION OF SOCIAL IMPACT REAL ESTATE
The definition of social impact real estate (“SIRE”) that JJK Places uses to judge our work and its impact is as follows:
Social impact real estate is a real estate development or investment that prioritizes people, their community, and the environment as highly as it does economic returns; it is a project pursued intentionally to serve a community or large population group by addressing a significant systemic challenge being faced by that community or population group. Such project seeks to produce a new, long-term solution that is measurable, positively affects an entire community not just a small sector, and respects the existing physical and social fabric of its surrounding neighborhood. A successful project delivers long-term value creation for all stakeholders, along with risk-adjusted returns for project investors, lenders, and funders (with the appropriate “value creation” for each stakeholder defined by each stakeholder in different ways).
This is the kind of real estate that JJK Places refers to as “people focused, community-centric” real estate.
From the above definition of SIRE, it therefore follows that a social impact real estate company is defined as follows:
A social impact real estate company is a for-profit real estate development and/or investment company focused entirely or almost entirely on a publicly declared mission to intentionally create socially and environmentally sustainable buildings, spaces, and the built-environment in ways that deliver new, long-term, measurable, positive change to a significant systemic challenge being faced by a community or large population group. Such a company is by definition Triple Bottom-line—prioritizing people, planet, and profit—along with delivering long-term value creation for all stakeholders (as defined by each stakeholder). Additionally, the company takes great efforts to authentically involve local community members in engagement and project input, and pursues a design and purpose which respects the existing physical and social fabric of a project’s surrounding neighborhood.
Integral to this above definition are several required elements that are characteristic of a social impact real estate company:
- Operates with higher business, social, and environmental standards of responsibility, accountability, and transparency
- Specific declared public benefit purpose(s)
- All or nearly all of its company focus and efforts are devoted to social impact real estate projects
- Intentionality of efforts (i.e., seeking public benefits is one of the primary reasons to pursue a project)
- Efforts seek to address a widely existing systemic challenge(s) faced by a community or large population group
- Efforts cause new, long-term positive change or impact
- The impact affects the entire community
- The impact is quantifiable and measurable
- Projects are designed respecting the existing physical and social fabric of a neighborhood
- Such a company seeks out and involves authentic community engagement and input in projects
