THIRD EDITION
STATEMENT OF STEWARDSHIP
THIRD EDITION
STATEMENT OF STEWARDSHIP
INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE
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PALMETTO BLUFF B l uffton, S C
“
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
”
— AFRICAN PROVERB
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STATEMENT OF STEWARDSHIP
ALLY CHARLOTTE CENTER Charl ott e, N C
Being stewards is not optional. It is a fundamental requirement to doing business the right way. At Crescent, we strive to incorporate stewardship into every project, to make difficult decisions that address current and future challenges, and to improve continuously. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the land and communities under our stewardship remain vibrant. We seek to leave behind legacies whose value builds with time.
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FROM OUR CEO TODD W. MANSFIELD President & CEO Crescent Communities
Since our last published report, our focus at Crescent Communities has been on nurturing the relationships and foundation we have built to date. For several years we concentrated on building our stewardship framework and integrating it into our daily corporate philosophy. We have been pleased with our progress and are now working to maintain the hard work that paved the path. As you will read in the pages to follow, we continue to believe that environmental considerations must be included in all of our communities. We strive to stay at the head of the pack and push our industries to deliver increasingly smart, responsive and responsible products, while still creating beautiful and financially successful communities. We have learned that thoughtful partnerships, and surrounding ourselves with like-minded teammates, are the keys to success. Delivering communities where stewardship is at the core of decisionmaking is not always easy and we are the first to admit that. Daily challenges continue to ask us to be better, expect better and create better. We look forward to continuing what we have started.
COMMERCIAL /MIXED USE
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CREATING CONNECTIONS Last year we introduced you to The River District and asked a lot of “What ifs.” We shared our vision of what we hope this place will represent and now we are ready to bring that vision to life. As we began to examine those “What ifs” it became clear that the answer is a simple one. The River District is about creating connections. Connecting people. Connecting places. Connecting to nature. Connecting to food. Connecting to opportunity. The River District offers seemingly endless opportunities for growth, opportunity and connection. Here are a few of the ways we are addressing these opportunities and you can expect more to come in the future. • Minority and Small Business Inclusion Program - 10% COMMITMENT ON PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND 10% COMMITMENT ON PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE. • 7,090 CONSTRUCTION RELATED JOBS with $248 MILLION IN CONSTRUCTION RELATED JOB wages and salaries • Work Force and Affordable Housing Program - 8% OF HOUSING WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE AFFORDABLE • 17 MILES OF PUBLIC MULTI-USE TRAILS; anticipated opening Summer 2018 • 133 MILES OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE (roads, sidewalks, utilities) • 550 ACRES SECURED FOR OPEN SPACE • CATAWBA RIVER SHORELINE public access and CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL Conservation Easement We will continue to ask the “What ifs” and seek answers that will help shape this new Charlotte community. Join us as we Go West with the River District.
THE RIVER DISTRICT C harlotte, NC
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR IMPACT
ALLY CHARLOTTE CENTER C harl otte, NC
BUILDING THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE Creating a new generation of office space is all about the relationship between people and the buildings in which they work. The goal at Ally Charlotte Center is to create an unsurpassed commercial community for the best and brightest by designing from the inside out, wrapping the building around its occupants to create the most competitive workplace possible—a sustainable, innovative and connected building designed for increased efficiency, enhanced performance and improved productivity as well as environmental stewardship, and wellness promotion. This is what sustainability looks like today. We believe that when we lead with this mindset, the building’s occupants will attract, recruit and retain the best talent out there. Today’s employers need flexibility so that they can evolve with the wants and needs of their team. To deliver this interior space flexibility, the floor designs feature large clear spans to maximize open plan office space and floorto-ceiling glass to achieve maximum light and views. Ally Charlotte Center focuses on people. Not just those that call the office space home. Our hope is to weave the building into the urban fabric of Uptown Charlotte and engage with the community at the street level. The amenities that surround the base of the tower are open to the public, creating a porous interface with the neighboring community and providing a range of places to dine, meet or relax—spaces where people can serendipitously engage with one another and the greater community.
HIGHLIGHT #1 83 girls participated in the
PROJECT SCIENTIST URBAN PLANNING WEEK sponsored and co-created by Crescent Communities.
HIGHLIGHT #2 Partnership with Tarheel Trailblazers to
BUILD TRAILS AT RIVER DISTRICT.
WIREDSCORE CONSIDERS
LEED represents
OUR COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
Tryon Place was
FIRST WELL REGISTERED PROJECT
in North Carolina.
multiple variables, including flexible infrastructure for future innovations, telecommunications equipment, and ease of connectivity upon move-in.
RESORT
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HIGHLIGHT #1
LAKE JAMES TRAIL LAKE JAMES
connecting directly into State Park.
Nebo, NC
HIGHLIGHT #2
KEEPING THE CATAWBA RIVER CLEAN Lake James is situated at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, nestled in between Asheville and Charlotte. The lake, with over 150 miles of shoreline, is the clearest lake along the Catawba River and one of the cleanest lakes in the Southeast. The cleanliness of the lake is directly linked to our stewardship of the land. In a partnership with the Foothills Land conservancy we have implemented key protections that we have initiated to protect the lake and surrounding wildlife. A large protective buffer of 100 feet is helping to preserve the entire shoreline to limit the disruption of key vegetation and trees that act as natural protection of the water.
Loop trail system being developed to connect into the
LINVILLE GORGE WILDERNESS. HIGHLIGHT #3
LAKE JAMES is surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest with hundreds of miles of trails, waterfalls and hardwood forest.
We don’t just want to protect the Catawba River, we want people to enjoy it. This commitment led to developing only half of the land, with the other half dedicated to hiking trails and open space for all to use. We also partnered with the state of North Carolina to create a 3,000-acre expansion of the Lake James State Park, protecting 30 more miles of shoreline from development which increased the protected shorelines to 75 miles. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to build community in the midst of such natural beauty. We feel it is our responsibility to do what we can to preserve the lake views and vistas so that residents and patrons can enjoy the beauty of the lake for years to come.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
DESIGNING WITH THE LAND When first conceptualizing our second Village, Moreland, our team’s goal was to blur the lines between indoors and out, continuing our vision of a community where you can live in harmony with the land. The existing location was a quintessential low country riverfront natural setting, so the land became our lead architect. With idyllic views and more than 17,000 linear feet of marsh edge, the raw materials at Moreland are simply stunning. And In the core of the Village, the focus is on the details. Roads and paths are paved with crushed oyster shells. Fifty-six custom BevoloŽ lanterns designed to reflect a nautical theme dot the streets of the first phase of the Village. Each structure is subordinate to the landscape and capitalizes on views, breezes and sun position. A focus on outdoor living encourages outdoor kitchens, expansive porches, day beds, showers and a place for the dog to wash his paws, all with convenient access to the river, as well as the walking and nature trails. The Outfitters, an interactive nature center, is now home to the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy offices and classroom, hosting programs, activities, and events to celebrate and educate residents and visitors alike. It is only fitting, that this complex of buildings touts some of the most progressive design and construction methods at Palmetto Bluff. In addition to having a highly efficient geothermal mechanical system, the buildings showcase wood harvested from sinker cypress logs that spent more than fifty years at the bottom of the river. Throughout Moreland Village, a historic construction technique of an oyster shell and Portland Cement tabby mixture was utilized both for durability and homage to the land. We set out to create intriguing places to live, stay, and play, without sacrificing the natural environment.
CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE MORELAND
PALMETTO BLUFF Blu ffton, S C
HIGHLIGHT #1 ON-SITE ARCHAEOLOGIST The oldest artifact found at Palmetto Bluff is 12,000 years old.
HIGHLIGHT #2
HIGHLIGHT #3
MUSIC TO YOUR MOUTH
PALMETTO BLUFF ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM,
The annual celebration of southern food, wine, music and culture has donated more than $130,000 to Second Helpings.
welcomes a different artisan each month of the year for one-week residencies.
MULTIFAMILY
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CLICK HERE TO MEET OUR ARTISTS
NOVEL NODA C harlotte, NC
THE NEW AMENITY Using public art as a major amenity in communities may not sound like a typical real estate strategy, but it’s exactly what we are doing. We have long differentiated ourselves with our attention to detail, focus on amenity spaces and a desire to cultivate true community. Incorporating art into our new communities combines all of those defining elements and lives out two of our corporate values: Be curious. Innovate always. One of our first large steps into community-driven public art was with the murals at Crescent Highland in Scottsdale, Arizona. Crescent Communities commissioned local muralist Tato Caraveo and Charlotte-based muralist Graham Carew to create several large murals on the sides of the building as a tribute to the transformative community of which it is a part. This gift to the community quickly became a point of pride for the area and residents who call Crescent HIghland home. Almost immediately, people began flocking to the property to view the murals in person and take pictures of it. The building itself became a tool for engagement with our neighbors. Since that first collaboration, several other projects have made significant investments in public art. Novel NoDa recently completed a mural on the side of its parking garage the size of a football field. The collaborative piece was designed and painted by artists from Goodyear Arts, who gained their start in the Goodyear building that once stood on the Tryon Place site. This bright mural will physically mark the entrance to the NoDa Arts community for every person taking the lightrail that will open in Spring 2018. Over 30 local artists are being featured throughout the project in multiple other murals, sculpture, a gallery wall and through an art hall featuring pictures of the buildings that used to stand on the site. Novel Stonewall Station will be the next project to take on large-scale public art. It will soon be home to one of Charlotte’s largest pieces of public art when a three dimensional sculpture is added to the parking garage facade. This Marc Fornes work, along with Goodyear Arts murals in the interior resident courtyard and steel sculptural art pieces along the transit plaza, are meant to be gifts to the community. At Crescent Communities, our vision is to Build community. Better people’s lives. We hope that these acts are one small way to do that.
NOVEL MUSIC ROW Nashvi ll e, TN
HIGHLIGHT #1
WALKING OUR TALK In 2013, we made it a goal to gain third-party green certifications for all of our multifamily units going forward. It wasn’t easy, and believe it or not, it still wasn’t the norm. We realized that certifying a clubhouse or fitness center was fine, but that the real value for our residents was in making sure we were providing healthy places to call home that were mindful of our natural resources. We take great pride in every design selection and construction choice we make. Us saying that wasn’t good enough for us. An outside third-party works on each of our communities and verifies that what we are publicly stating is being delivered. Over the years, we have made improvements to our standard specifications and created key partnerships with industry-leading specialists. Almost all of our living units are now certified under a third-party certification standard, with the majority using the National Green Building Standard (NGBS). While we are proud to showcase our certifications, we are even prouder to highlight the smart decisions being made separate from any certification. Upcycling has become a common term on our communities. Early in the development cycle we determine what existing parts of the site can be reused or turned into something new for the future community. Novel Providence Farm celebrates this idea with a 12’ custom walnut community table, shelves and resident charcuterie boards - all made by a local treecycler from wood harvested on the original property. Since 2013, we have certified 3,326 units and as of publishing this report, have 4,665 additional units in progress. For us, green building and certifications aren’t about checking another box, but rather proving that we mean what we say. None of our residents will ever see how every inch of external wall is visually inspected to make sure it is air sealed. Nor will they hear our conversations as we ensure we are specifying products that won’t off-gas. But we believe in doing the right thing, and this is one of those.
WALK SCORES AVERAGE
58.625 URBAN
74.2 SUBURBAN
32.67 HIGHLIGHT #2 For every apartment leased, Crescent donates a tree.
#treeforakey = Total to date 528. Visit www.treeforakey.com
HIGHLIGHT #3
3,326 Units NGBS Certified 4,665 In Process-NGBS
FIELDING HOMES
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HOMES MEANT FOR LIVING Homebuilding today is much different than it was even ten years ago. The building codes to which all homes are constructed have been refined to require efficient windows, insulation, plumbing systems, and the like. To maintain a reputation as a respected builder, energy efficiency and resource management must be an assumed component of the building process and finished product. In recent years, home buyers have become much more knowledgeable about green building. They do not need to have a formal education in sustainable building practices to understand that when they buy a newly built home, they should expect a smart and energy efficient dwelling. With that said, Fielding Homes still wants to deliver a superior home and experience in every way possible. Like most new homes, ours are rated on the HERS (the Home Energy Rating System) Index—the industry standard for measuring a home’s energy efficiency. We employ this system to keep ourselves accountable and to be transparent about the performance of each individual home. Our homes score an average of 64 on the index with the new home national average being 100. This means that our homes are almost 40% more energy efficient than a standard new home. We have gone to great lengths to choose finishes, equipment and building materials that contribute to making each home as healthy, energy-efficient and responsible as possible. However, we believe that what differentiates our product is the attention paid to how people will use and live in our homes. It is this personal consideration to the livability of our homes that makes us special. Most people walk into our homes and are immediately taken in by the amount of natural light in our gathering spaces. Our windows are large and abundant. This didn’t occur by accident. We understand how daylight impacts people, and in turn, their use of space. Our floor plans were intentionally designed to allow for direct access and connectivity to the outdoors. Our living space isn’t just confined within the walls of our homes. It’s these considerations, and all the thoughtful design details you see throughout our homes, that create places that will be sustainable and stand the test of time. That is our ultimate goal.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
MASONS BEND Fo r t Mi ll , S C
HIGHLIGHT #1
HIGHLIGHT #2
HIGHLIGHT #3
LOW VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Large refrigerators (21.9 to 27.8 cubic feet), double-basin sinks, solid surface counter options to
STANDARD ENERGY EFFICIENT
(VOCs) products like paint, sealant, flooring & more.
ENCOURAGE BETTER USE OF THE KITCHEN.
Lennox 14 SEER air conditioner and furnace that can be connected to a solar power system, windows – low E3 windows.
INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE
CRESCENT COMMUNITIES, LLC 227 W. TRADE STREET, SUITE 1000, CHARLOTTE, NC 28202 | 980.321.6000 | CRESCENTCOMMUNITIES.COM