At Cortland, we prioritize the overall health and wellbeing of our residents and associates. In service to those stakeholders, we seek to improve our environmental, social, and governance impacts both within our organization and at our owned and managed communities. We believe that through our efforts in each area, we can create a great place to work for our associates and exceptional places to live for our residents, and that, in turn, these benefits have the potential to optimize returns for our investors. We believe that Cortland’s vertically integrated operating model provides us with the opportunity to thoughtfully implement ESG policies and practices across our owned and managed portfolio.
Our Commitments
Environmental
Cortland works to leverage its community-level operational expertise and in-house design and construction businesses to deliver sustainability solutions to our community associates and residents, with an eye toward improving resource efficiency and adopting environmentally sustainable practices. Through industry collaboration and direct investment in emerging technologies, we are expanding our ability to track and report our energy and water consumption, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions data. We believe that, operationally, we have developed the capability to make sustainability-focused improvements to the assets we acquire, develop, renovate, and manage, while maintaining a primary focus on investment returns.
Social
Taking care of our people is a driving principle at Cortland and helps shape the firm’s mission. We bring these principles to life every day through a variety of programs, including our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council, Associate Resource Groups, Talent Development program, Thrive wellness benefits, access to a free, in-house therapist, corporate volunteering days, and partnerships with groups such as the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Foundation and Project Destined.
Governance
We believe that a key to leading an effective, vertically integrated investment and operating platform is creating a firm culture and governance structure that allows disparate teams to coalesce around a simple set of goals and ideals that come from the top. Cortland built a centralized governance structure and internal communications team to allow the firm to make high-quality decisions that incorporate ideas from leaders across departments and consistently communicate those decisions across the platform.
