[SINGAPORE] While urban rejuvenation often involves a new build from scratch on vacant, undeveloped land, Keppel has taken a different tack with its Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) strategy.

The real asset manager and operator acquires older buildings and retrofits or redevelops the brownfield assets, with the aim of the strategy to reduce energy use intensity by at least 20 per cent on a portfolio basis, compared to pre-retrofit levels.

“Keppel’s SUR strategy is one of the few funds in Asia-Pacific to embed clear sustainability targets at the fund level. Our approach makes decarbonisation and sustainability integral to the investment thesis itself,” said Christina Tan, Keppel’s chief executive officer for fund management and chief investment officer, in an interview with The Business Times. 

“Buildings account for around 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. The large stock of ageing buildings in Asia’s gateway cities presents a compelling opportunity for decarbonisation and value creation.” 

In August, Keppel private funds under the SUR strategy announced the acquisition of the office component of Jem for S$462 million. The Grade A office asset is expected to undergo targeted upgrading works to reduce its energy use intensity.  

More of such acquisitions are in the pipeline, Tan said, with Keppel’s private funds looking at the commercial, living, life sciences, hospitality and logistics sectors in gateway cities across Asia-Pacific. 

To date, Keppel’s SUR strategy has total funds under management of about S$4.3 billion, after securing...