The San Francisco-based Swig Company has announced that it has obtained WELL Health-Safety Ratings through the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) for the majority of its U.S. portfolio of multitenant office buildings. This means the WELL rating is now a feature in almost eight million square feet of office space in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
A recent ULI member survey confirms that industry experts anticipate air quality and other health measures will be a priority going forward. During a ULI webinar reviewing the survey results, Deborah Cloutier, president and founder of RE Tech Advisors, said, “The pandemic set in overdrive a trend already emerging—that being the trend of healthy buildings.”
The buildings include those owned and operated by the Swig Company, including the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery and 501 Second Street in San Francisco as well as buildings owned in partnership, such as the Grace Building in New York.
In addition to WELL Health-Safety ratings, most buildings in the portfolio carry LEED and EnergyStar certifications and The Swig Company is constantly evaluating best practices in sustainability, health, and safety.
“We believe the real estate community has a responsibility to minimize the environmental impact of the built environment and its contribution to climate change. At The Swig Company, we are deeply committed to the ongoing reduction of our carbon footprint while providing optimal environments for the health and wellness of our building occupants,” said Jim Carbone, CEO, Swig Company, and a ULI full member.
“We’re always looking to create the best possible office environments for our tenants and onsite property staff,” said Connor Kidd, executive vice president and director of asset management, Swig Company. “WELL certification is something we’d been focused on for our redevelopment at 633 Folsom. When the WELL institute developed the Health and Safety rating in response to the pandemic, we were already familiar with the aims of WELL and thought it would be a great way to make our tenants feel safe returning to the office. Once we made the decision to move ahead with WELL Health and Safety Rating, it quickly became apparent that it would be much more efficient, both in terms of our staff resources and overall capital investment, to scale certification throughout the entire multitenant office portfolio.”
