Community Engagement

Our business objective is to achieve investment success while making a difference for local communities and their residents. We are firmly committed to our role as a corporate citizen and socially responsible investor, and work on multiple fronts to improve the communities in which we invest.

Real Estate Investments

Our real estate investments provide community and environmental benefits that last well beyond our investment holding period, such as reduced traffic congestion, walkable neighborhoods, energy-efficient buildings, affordable housing, and revitalized sites that create a better “sense of place.”

Employment Practices

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and believe that the diversity of our workforce is a key to our success as a company. More than 50% of our associates are women and/or minorities.

Business Practices

Our culture emphasizes integrity and honesty in all of our interactions with investors, partners, vendors and community groups. We typically require that contractors and subcontractors working on our development projects pay fair wages and benefits to their workers. And we strive to hire qualified minority- and women-owned business enterprises when engaging third-party service providers.

Support for Community Groups

We donate 5% of our gross profits to charities and non-profit groups active in the communities where we have made investments, in addition to encouraging employee volunteer efforts. A sampling of the groups that we have supported includes:

  • ICA Cristo Rey Academy: San Francisco college-preparatory school for young women from underserved communities. Participate in the school’s corporate work study program, in which students work as interns in the company’s office and receive training and mentoring in office tasks and business etiquette as well as gain exposure to a wide range of career opportunities.
  • Initiative for a Competitive Inner City:  Non-profit, research and strategy organization that works to strengthen the nation’s inner-city economies by providing both the private and public sector with comprehensive and actionable information about urban market opportunities.
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation: Private foundation established to finance and construct a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
  • Rebuilding Together San Francisco:  Local chapter of national non-profit organization that mobilizes volunteers to revitalize neighborhoods in San Francisco by repairing homes and renovating schools and non-profit facilities.
  • The Robert Toigo Foundation:  National non-profit organization that offers a leadership development program for minority undergraduate and graduate students focused on the field of finance that involves scholarships, mentoring, career guidance, networking and other professional development opportunities.