The first office buildings in 9 U.S. cities receive Viral Response Approval from Fitwel as BentallGreenOak takes the lead on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in commercial real estate

• BGO office buildings in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Charlotte, Portland, Jersey City and Wellesley are the first in their cities to achieve Fitwel designation

New York (January 21, 2021) – BentallGreenOak (BGO) announced that it has achieved Fitwel’s Viral Response Approval for 17 office buildings across the U.S., making it the largest commercial real estate portfolio in the country to have achieved this distinction to date. These approvals include the first-ever Viral Response Approved office buildings in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Charlotte, Portland, Jersey City and Wellesley. These 9 cities are among the first in the U.S. to have commercial real estate buildings with third party certification of their operations, policies and practices confirming their preparedness to mitigate the spread of infectious disease.

Fitwel is a rigorous, third-party healthy building certification system operated by the Center for Active Design (CfAD) and sets the industry standard for evidence-based strategies that promote positive health outcomes for building occupants and communities.

Fitwel's Viral Response (VR) module was developed in coordination with leading public health experts and real estate companies to effectively address the unique challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious respiratory diseases. The VR module allows building owners, companies, and commercial tenants to demonstrate compliance with evidence-based, cost-effective strategies that mitigate viral transmission and build trust to create healthy and resilient environments for all occupants. BGO has been on the frontlines of driving property-level progress in confronting the challenges of COVID-19 through the firm’s involvement as an industry advisor and early adopter of these strategies.

“As cities grapple with the enormous challenges of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, real estate asset managers must assume their role in supporting this effort through the implementation of leading practices that keep tenants and the general public safe, and our buildings operational,” said Amy Price, President, BentallGreenOak. “This social imperative is in clear alignment with our fiduciary responsibility as stewards of our clients’ capital to safeguard the resiliency and long-term success of their real estate investments.”

Joanna Frank, President and CEO of CfAD, added, “We congratulate BGO for securing multiple Viral Response Approvals, reflecting the firm’s notable efforts to rapidly adopt evidence-based viral mitigation policies and implement them at scale across its U.S. portfolio. This achievement demonstrates BGO’s significant commitment to the health and wellness of its occupants and reflects its role as a leader in the healthy building movement.”

BGO retained the services of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to conduct a variety of independent tests across its certified portfolio, including indoor air quality, water quality and janitorial efficacy, and building re-occupancy investigations. UL will continue their testing regime on an additional 13 buildings in BGO’s U.S.-based office portfolio.

List of BentallGreenOak’s Viral Response Approved Office Buildings in the U.S.

* denotes first to receive Fitwel Viral Response Approval in their respective city

About BentallGreenOak

BentallGreenOak is a leading, global real estate investment management advisor and a globally-recognized provider of real estate services. BentallGreenOak serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients with approximately $50 billion USD of assets under management (as of September 30, 2020) and expertise in the asset management of office, retail, industrial and multi-residential property across the globe. BentallGreenOak has offices in 24 cities across twelve countries with deep, local knowledge, experience, and extensive networks in the regions where we invest in and manage real estate assets on behalf of our clients. BentallGreenOak is a part of SLC Management, which is the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Sun Life.

The assets under management shown above include real estate equity and mortgage investments managed by the BentallGreenOak group of companies and their affiliates.

For more information, please visit www.bentallgreenoak.com

About Fitwel and the Center for Active Design

Fitwel is the world's leading certification system committed to building health for all™. Generated by expert analysis of 5,600+ academic research studies, Fitwel is implementing a vision for a healthier future where all buildings and communities are enhanced to strengthen health and well-being. Fitwel was originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and U.S. General Services Administration. The CDC remains the research and evaluation partner for Fitwel. The Center for Active Design, a global not-for-profit organization, was selected as the licensed operator of Fitwel, charged with expanding Fitwel to the global market.

To learn more about Fitwel, please visit: www.fitwel.org

Media Contact

Rahim Ladha
Vice President, Corporate Communications
BentallGreenOak
media@bentallgreenoak.com