Property shifts from profit to profit with purpose
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A First Nations art gallery that embodies the purpose of a public service department. A training program in Belconnen that helps the local community build skills, prosperity and confidence. And a non-transactional pavilion at Dairy Road.
These are just three examples of how Canberra’s property companies are demonstrating that value and values are two sides of the same coin.
This idea of “social sustainability” has been gaining traction for some time now. Sustainable investing—the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into decision making—has risen remarkably since the UN published the ‘Who Cares Wins’ report more than 15 years ago. In Australia, for example, more than a third of professional managed assets—or $1.1 trillion dollars—now fall under the category of ‘responsible’ investment.
But COVID-19 has made it impossible for us to ignore the interconnection between companies, communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders.
We have all learnt some tough lessons over the last year: of the importance of a social safety net during lockdowns; of why workplace health and safety is non-negotiable; and of structural inequalities in our system that make a mockery of the phrase ‘we are all in this together’.
We have also learnt that, with a virus that doesn’t discriminate, we are only as strong as our weakest link.
In this context, investing in our communities is not just the right thing to do. We can see that businesses cannot thrive in a world where people don’t.
Nowhere is this more important than in the property industry. “Ultimately, purpose is the engine of long-term profitability,” argues Larry Fink, CEO of the $10 trillion asset manager BlackRock.
“Our buildings aren’t just bricks and mortar – they are the places where people gather and connect,” says ISPT’s General Manager for Sustainability and Technical Services, Alicia Maynard.
In just one of many projects focused on responsible investment, ISPT has transformed a mundane office lift corridor into Dream Gallery—a space at 2 Constitutional Avenue that connects reconciliation with practical rehabilitation of Indigenous Australians in prison.
Dream Gallery, staged in partnership with Knight Frank and tenant customer ACT Corrective Services, captures the humanity and the heartbreaking personal stories of the artists at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
As each artwork is sold, the proceeds are held in trust for the artists until their release, and new visual stories take their place. One artist has said the purchase of his artwork “gives me such pride I have never before felt,” while another has said the gallery “has made me realise that I am actually good at something and I could do art in the community”.
This project is awe-inspiring because it was conceived and delivered in a commercial environment. As Alicia says: “By reimagining an under-utilised area, we created a meaningful space for our customers—one that inspires people and fosters pride in their workplace”. Dream Gallery is just one example of how staying true to purpose—to create great places for people—can deliver far-reaching value.
Out in western Belconnen, at the growing Ginninderry community, hundreds of local people are taking part in SPARK, a training and employment program that is creating new pathways for people that may otherwise be left behind.
SPARK’s programs build skills across a variety of industry sectors—everything from construction to childcare—giving people the confidence to chase their dreams. One program graduate, Bernice, signed up for SPARK’s 13-week community services ‘taster’ program after moving to our city from an African nation. She said SPARK helped her gain employment as a disability support worker, “opening doors of opportunities” and “giving me back my confidence” after spending time in a women’s refuge.
Bernice has since started studying at CIT, and is just one of dozens to do so, says Emma Sckrabei, Ginninderry’s Training and Employment Manager.
“We want to contribute to our community, helping people become more prosperous and more socially connected and providing opportunities to learn new skills—and SPARK does that,” she says.
Meanwhile, Molonglo, the team behind Fyshwick’s Dairy Road, have spent a long time considering how to make a diverse, layered and meaningful neighbourhood.
Molonglo’s latest project as part of this ambition opens to the public in autumn and is called LESS. Designed by Chile-based practice Pezo von Ellrichshausen, LESS is a pavilion at Dairy Road consisting of 36 concrete columns and a circular ramp that leads up to a viewing platform.
The structure will be populated with 6,000 individual plants of 50 different plant species, many of which are native to Canberra. A small, continuous and shallow stream will run through and down the structure’s columns, pooling, running and returning.
LESS Pavilion.
“In our 2018 public participation program we asked Canberrans to tell us who they thought was missing from Dairy Road and why,” says Molonglo’s Nikos Kalogeropoulos. “The truth was that people with lower incomes and people with disabilities were missing.”
LESS pavilion is a space that everyone, regardless of physical ability, can access and use. It is a non-commercial public place, and its use is not predicated on any transaction with Molonglo or with a business at Dairy Road.
“LESS welcomes people to come and activate it as they see fit,” says Nikos.
Projects like these, on their own, may not seem revolutionary. Social enterprises and charities have been doing this work for centuries. But ISPT’s Dream Gallery, Ginninderry’s SPARK and Dairy Road’s LESS pavilion all point to a future in which property companies shift their focus from profit to profit with purpose.
In doing so, they make our communities stronger, safer and more socially sustainable. When we get it right, better financial performance will be the by-product—not the end goal—of putting people first.
Feature image: Ginninderry SPARK participants.
