Aroundtown has recently launched its “Aroundtown Buzzes” project, designed to strengthen urban biodiversity.
As part of the project, the company is providing the roofs of commercial properties it owns for bee colonies. This will become a permanent home for the bee colony, and a full-time beekeeper will be employed who takes full care of the bees. The primary objective of the company is to promote urban biodiversity and support the survival of bees inside urban areas. Considering the importance of bees to a diverse ecosystem, this is an admirable goal.
Rooftop Colonies
The initial project was first initiated in 2020. There were 15 beehives located on the roofs of commercial properties owned by the Aroundtown Group. There are now a total of more than 28 new colonies located on the rooftops of properties owned by the group, including six younger colonies which will turn out their first crop of successful, productive bees this year. As a result of this initiative, there has been 450 liters of honey which has been produced and put into jars.
Many commercial and residential properties located around the city have been landscaped to turn them into bee-friendly areas where the local populace can thrive. Obviously, the goal of the project was to create the ideal conditions for the animals and preserve their habitats where possible.
There have been other examples of conservation projects which have emerged as being reasonably effective. For example, there have been lanes which have been terraformed into meadows, which was recently the focus on a residential complex located in Dortmund. A bee hotel was also installed, along with information boards which helped to highlight the issues surrounding bees and to make residents aware of the local ecosystem.
Staff Make a Difference
Staff for these areas and those employed by Aroundtown were used in the initiative. Those employees chosen recurve a special bee certificate as part of their onboarding process. The certificate gives them the sponsorship of a bee on one of the properties owned by the company. It also entitles them to receive special benefits from the company on occasion like free beeswax candles or honey.
Aroundtown is the third largest real estate company in Europe and is committed to sustainable innovation and investment, which is probably obvious by their chosen bee project.
The company mostly focuses on delivering income-generating properties via their potential to add value later on. Aroundtown focuses on working with properties across Germany and the Netherlands.
The portfolio that Aroundtown has is predominantly hotels, residential properties, and offices. Their experienced staff comprised hundreds of workers from across all areas of the value chain which helps to make sure that Aroundtown is capable of realizing it’s long term potential.
Aroundtown has earned a reputation for being innovative, flexible and professionally organized, making them reliable partners for long-term collaboration.
Aroundtown is a member of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), the German Property Federation (ZIA) and the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). (DGNB) as well as a signatory of the United Nations Charter of Diversity. Aroundtown has received multiple EPRA BPR Gold Awards and EPRA sBPR Gold Awards for its transparent financial and sustainability reporting.
The primary stakeholder in Aroundtown is Avisco. Avisco is controlled by Yakir Gabay, a Cypriot businessman who has 15% of Aroundtown Blackrock at 6% and JP Morgan Bank with 5%.
Other shareholders include Norges, Vanguard, Allianz, BNP Paribas, Japan’s Government investment fund, Aliance-Bernstein, Dekabank, State-Street, Bank of Montreal and many other leading international investors. The main bond investors include ECB, GIC, Union Investment, DB, UBS, CS, M&G, Pictet, Credit Agricole and many other major institutional investors.