Urban Partners

Last week, we had the privilege of gathering our investors for our Annual General Meeting, bringing them to the very inside of our operations within Urban Partners.    The day reflected our pursuit of becoming the most competent urban investor, and was centered around how our founding principals, long-term strategy and consistent execution have generated two decades of track record across cycles. An approach proven to be turmoil-tested. And the way we continuously identify structurally unmet demands has brought us to what we view as the world's largest investment opportunity: investing in better and more sustainable #cities.    Our investment strategies covered the story: we invest #realestate equity to shape the built environment for both people and planet via Nrep, we provide real estate #credit solutions to accelerate decarbonization from a financing perspective through Velo Capital and we back innovative entrepreneurs with scalable solutions through our urban #technology vc 2150. All oriented around urban problem solving and value creation for all stakeholders.   Furthermore, we were pleased to have Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions to speak to how global capital is moving towards the green transition, creating the business opportunity of our lifetime.    We wish to extend a deep thank you to our investors. Without your trust none of what we have achieved so far would have been possible, and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our mission of making better cities while delivering superior risk adjusted returns – together with all of our partners 🚀

Mikkel Bulow-Lehnsby, co-founder and chairperson of Urban Partners, shared his insights on the latest Financial Times Global Leadership Conversation Series episode. Alongside Lola Woetzel, senior partner emerita of McKinsey & Company and Elizabeth Gonzalez from Bloomberg, the discussion centered on the future of urban development and the introduction of the Dynamic Cities Dashboard —a tool designed to redefine the standards for creating more livable urban environments. Mikkel highlighted a key issue in the industry: real estate is often treated as a commodity rather than being thoughtfully designed to serve the needs of its inhabitants. Urban Partners and the Dynamic Cities Dashboard are working to bridge this gap, aiming to place people at the heart of urban design. To access an English version of the story: https://lnkd.in/e-jcsxc8 The original piece in Chinese: https://lnkd.in/djSxiwj5

Getting ready to meet you at EXPO REAL (Messe München) to share learnings, insights, market views and to connect! We are bringing 25+ Urbanites to Munich from across our credit arm Velo Capital, real estate investor Nrep and our investor relations team. Who’s on the ground from our side? Find details at Nrep and Velo Capital LinkedIn pages or check the comments to see the full list. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰:𝘀 – 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, where EXPO Real is another great opportunity to unlock ways for capital to help cities win our future battles. Curious about what recent insights we bring this year? 1️⃣ How is the residential segment evolving? Read the latest interview with Elisa Tuomi, Head of Living in Green Street News https://lnkd.in/gJ6eCfcv 2️⃣ Seeing is Believing: Unlocking the Low-Carbon Real Estate Market sets out the key findings from our collective action project on what is needed to achieve a collective 'North Star' for real estate decarbonization. https://lnkd.in/duQ4pGbx 3️⃣ How Urban Partners is making wider impact? Check out our latest Impact report that summarizes our progress during the past year https://lnkd.in/dEebkayn #exporeal2024 #exporeal #Nrep #VeloCapital

At #NYCW2024 this year, alongside our strategic partners C40 Cities, we were proud to bring together 150 key decisionmakers for a critical event on the sustainable financing of our cities🌆🌿   For us, this event marks the next stage of our partnership with C40, providing an evidence base for #greenandthrivingneighbourhoods through our 22 pilot projects in cities around the world, and developing sustainable financing models to unlock different types of capital needed to make these projects a reality.   Kicking off with two panels on ‘𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻’, we discussed what conditions and actors are needed to scale the technologies that will transform our building stock, to hearing from some of the inspirational institutional investors that have led the way in embracing sustainability as a key criteria in how they invest to shape the future of our cities. Proving the business case.   We then rounded off our discussions by diving into new approaches to create neighbourhood-scale impact, hearing from Mayors and influential global organizations on the current state of our cities and need to act fast if we are to respond to climate challenges, as well as investors and developers on how they can respond to these needs with a new approach to long-term financing, both providing outsized returns and creating neighbourhood-scale impact.   More than anything, we’re truly honoured to be able to gather together such an inspirational group of business and policy leaders at the forefront of the change our cities need and hope this will lead to many meaningful collaborations to come, our cities need it!💯   Thank you to our fantastic speakers Lola Woetzel, Christian Jølck, Chris Trott, Paula Kirk, Paul Polman, Nina Galbiati, Peter Stensgaard Mørch, Mikkel Bulow-Lehnsby, Jesse Shapins, Josh Sirefman, Bertrand Millot, Mark Watts, Anacláudia Rossbach, Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven and Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE✨   And of course, thank you to our partners C40 Cities, we look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership together and respond to the need for #greenandthriving cities🌱🏙

🎙 Our Co-Head of Neighborhood Investments, Jesse Shapins, was recently featured in a podcast discussion hosted by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities. In this episode, Jesse joins Shayne MacLachlan from OECD to delve into the topic of achieving climate action and social sustainability through Urban Partners' projects at the local, municipal, and national levels.   🌱 Jesse introduces the concept of green and thriving neighborhoods and cities, emphasizing that a truly great city encompasses more than just green buildings. He also shares examples of how Urban Partners has worked in the urban sphere to help cities overcome their challenges. Additionally, the episode addresses the critical issue of bridging the investment gap in climate action and explores the role of committed partners in making real change happen.   You can find the full episode and additional information in the comments below 👇   #UrbanPartners #greenandthriving #OECD #ClimateAction

Updates from #ClimateWeekNYC2024🍏 Today, we hosted an inspiring panel discussion at the 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗡𝗬𝗖 together with Ramboll and Henning Larsen.   We were pleased to have Jesse Shapins representing Urban Partners as a speaker on the panel conversation titled "𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦", moderated by Julia Gamolina. Alongside the other panelists, Simon Kates and Michael Sorensen, our aim was to identify holistic solutions and pave the way for innovative, scalable approaches. Approaches that will ensure our cities are equipped to meet the future demands of sustainability. The discussion was also enhanced by the valuable insights of Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE and Rohit Aggarwala providing important global perspectives as representatives for international governments💡 It is imperative that both urbanization and the increased importance of cities in the global economy, are met with efforts to accelerate decarbonization and develop low-carbon cities. Bridging the gap between the interests of people, cities, and capital, is crucial for the climate transition to succeed🌎   At Urban Partners, we deeply understand the importance of collaboration and collective efforts to mitigate climate change. Through the partnership with Ramboll, Henning Larsen and Denmark In New York, we aim to form alliances with other leading Danish companies, expanding our impact and sharing our insights and learnings on sustainability with a global audience. We would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who joined us today🙏 Join us on the journey towards a more resilient, thriving and inclusive tomorrow!

New York Climate Week is just around the corner, and we are excited to bring the topic of investing to build better, greener cities to the forefront of this agenda🌱🏙 At the core of the Urban Partners' approach is our commitment to decarbonize the built environment by uniting insights, stakeholders, and capital within the urban ecosystem. The value of new, multi-stakeholder partnerships in this complex ecosystem are key, hence why we place such importance on connecting with a global network of innovators, investors and policymakers🌎   Collaborating with our core strategic partners C40 Cities and Bloomberg New Economy to host a series of events throughout the week, we aim to provide concrete examples that demonstrate the commercial case for investing in the urban transition, an area in which purpose comes hand in hand with an unprecedented market opportunity. Together we can unlock capital for a better built environment where business and planetary interests are aligned, and we believe New York Climate Week is a great platform to drive these conversations forward and make it happen⏩ Stay tuned for more updates and highlights next week!💫 #ClimateWeek #urbantransition #netzero 

The need for alternative credit solutions to fill a growing structural funding gap for real estate grows. Which is why we one of our strategies, Velo Capital, is tailored to address this exact demand across the Nordics, and Germany.   But what are the mechanisms that puts Germany specifically on everyone's mind? Velo Capital's Managing Partner, Emanuele Bena, recently had the privilege of discussing the current lending landscape and the opportunities it presents for debt providers with a group of industry specialists in a roundtable hosted by Real Estate Capital.    Check it out ⬇

Last week, we hosted an Urban Impact seminar in Helsinki. We gathered both our experts and partners across the urban ecosystem to explore and discuss the many challenges - and opportunities - in cities today, and in the future.   Bringing people together is in our DNA. For learnings, to challenge each other and find a way to collaborate for impact, clearly conveyed by Joonas Lemström, our Head of Country in Finland.   Understanding our field - the current state and direction of a market is key for everything we do. Our market view was transparently provided by Jani Nokkanen, CIO of our real estate equity strategy Nrep - an update pointing to the huge opportunity to act in a market moving towards recovery, with strategies built on strong fundamentals and proven capabilities.    From our real estate credit specialist, Velo Capital's COO Sanna Weiss we heard about the increased demand and opportunity to provide alternative credit solutions to fill a growing funding gap and accelerate decarbonization across existing buildings and those being developed.    And last but not least, a thought-provoking presentation on the solutions cities worldwide are seeking for their current challenges was given by Thure Krarup, our Head of Global Stakeholder Relations.   One of the highlights of the event was the panel discussion titled "What Does the Future of Capital Look Like?" We were fortunate to have members of Helsinki's Urban Environment Committee, Mia Haglund, Olli-Pekka Koljonen, Otto Meri and Sameli Sivonen sharing their perspectives and insights into the future direction of Helsinki.   Thank you to all the speakers, participants, and partners who made the annual Urban Impact seminar a resounding success. See you again next year!

How can public-private partnerships and thoughtful urban planning help revitalize segregated neighborhoods? Our real estate investor Nrep has been working with the Municipality of Copenhagen and local social housing companies to contribute to the prosperous development of the area Tingbjerg since 2017. In addition to creating new housing options, by building 1,000 new homes by 2027, we are collaborating with the local organization to support fostering a community and increase the feeling of safety and the attractiveness of the area. As of December 2022, the area is no longer on the Danish government's list of parallel societies. After decades of declining population, we continue to work for the area’s current and expected growth to come alongside creating a vibrant and inclusive neighborhood. The ongoing transformation of Tingbjerg truly showcases the impact of collaborative urban development – creating a vibrant, diverse, and thriving community! Curious to learn more about how we work with neighborhoods? Read more from our latest Impact Report: https://lnkd.in/dYwfcNtB Or about the work in Tingbjerg: https://lnkd.in/g6Nq7DDi