HIW CRR 2022 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 3
LETTER FROM THE CEO
On behalf of Highwoods, I am pleased to present our
sixth annual Corporate Resiliency Report. Over the
last year, we have celebrated many pivotal milestones
at Highwoods. We expanded our footprint into a new
high-growth Sun Belt market, executed on our key
Strategic Plan objective of improving our portfolio in
the Best Business Districts (BBDs) in core markets and
relocated our corporate headquarters to the vibrant
Fayetteville Street corridor in downtown Raleigh.
Through championing a culture of hospitality and
best-in-class customer service, we have deepened
relationships with our customers by expanding our
#BetterTogether campaign. We continue to deliver
on our commitment to create thoughtful, intentional
and commute-worthy workplaces where the best and
brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart.
Highwoods is a purpose-led organization in the workplacemaking business. We are committed to our
intrinsic responsibility of making positive contributions
to society and believe in building an enduring and
resilient business that not only survives, but thrives in all
economic cycles. To achieve these long-term objectives,
we continue to leverage our enterprise risk management
framework through purposeful diversification and
improving the quality of our portfolio.
Our well-diversified, high-quality portfolio continues
to outperform versus our markets and compared to
other major metros throughout the US. We believe that
to be resilient we must be diversified, which is a core
component of our long-stated, simple and straightforward
goal of generating attractive and sustainable returns
over the long-term. With 1,500+ customers, our
portfolio is located in eight core Sun Belt markets with a
sharpshooter focus on best business districts, which are
both urban and suburban.
Consistent with our long-term strategic objective of
owning the highest quality office buildings in the BBDs
of markets with favorable economic and demographic
trends, we entered the Dallas market in 2022. In
partnership with Granite Properties, we acquired
the one-of-a-kind, 20-story Class AA office building
McKinney & Olive (557,000 SF) in uptown Dallas and
are collaborating on two innovative developments
in the Dallas metro area. We are excited about the
opportunity to build and grow a strong presence in
Dallas with our combination of proven development
expertise, strong asset management platform and
dedication to the customer experience.
After more than 35 years, we marked a significant
milestone in Highwoods history by moving our corporate
headquarters to 150 Fayetteville Street in the heart
of downtown Raleigh. We have long invested in our
hometown and are excited to build stronger connections
with our community and take full advantage of all the
city center has to offer. We will continue to champion
revitalization efforts in Raleigh to make it an even better
place to live, work and serve.
In 2022, our continued efforts to advance our ESG and
resiliency strategy have earned us recognition from
leading organizations. We:
• Achieved an 8.1% reduction in Greenhouse Gas
emissions year-over-year.
• Received the GRESB Green Star rating for the third
consecutive year and continued to improve yearover-year performance.
• Earned recognition from industry leading
ESG frameworks:
– Sustainalytics: Ranked as “Low ESG Risk Profile”
– MSCI: Awarded an A rating — one of the highest
ratings for real estate companies.
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– ISS: Earned the highest ISS Governance Quality
Score of 1 and earned an ESG Prime badge.
Achieved 75 ENERGY STAR certifications,
demonstrating our long-term commitment to
sustainability and operational excellence.
Achieved LEED and Fitwel certifications for all new,
wholly-owned developments delivered.
Selected as a Green Lease Leader at the Silver
level and advanced to the Gold level recognizing
our commitment to collaborating with our customers
to promote sustainability in the workplace.
Expanded our “Heart of Highwoods” program through
advancing our diversity and inclusion initiatives and
supporting 50+ non-profit organizations in the
markets where we operate.
Received the Cigna Silver Level Healthy Workforce
Designation for demonstrating a strong commitment
to improving the health and well-being of our
employees through our Employee Well-Being Program.
We have made great strides in our journey to advance
our corporate ESG initiatives and resiliency planning
and know that significant challenges and opportunities
lie ahead as we all transition
to a lower carbon
future. We have great
confidence in our team
and know that we will
continue to rise to
the occasion as we
become a stronger,
more resilient and
purposeful organization.
Ted Klinck | President and Chief Executive Officer
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