Intelligent Real Estate Investments - Hines

300 Capitol Mall Awarded LEED Gold Certification

(SACRAMENTO) – The Sacramento office of Hines, the international real estate firm, and New York-based Sterling American Property Inc., joint owners of 300 Capitol Mall in Sacramento, announced today that the property has received Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® rating system for Existing Buildings.

It is the first office building on Capitol Mall to achieve LEED certification.

In addition, 300 Capitol Mall has consistently achieved the ENERGY STAR® label, and with a current rating of 96, the property is 52 percent more energy efficient and annually saves $1.61 in energy costs per square foot when compared to the national average office building.

This translates to estimated annual greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to removing 420 passenger vehicles from the road.

300 Capitol Mall, a 383,238-square-foot, 18-story office building is anchored by the State of California’s Controller Office and the State of California’s Department of Insurance, which together occupy almost 280,000 square feet.

The property is 97 percent leased to a roster of tenants that include several State of California agencies, Microsoft, Fleishman-Hillard and Westamerica Bank.

Designed by DMJM (now AECOM) and completed in 1984, 300 Capitol Mall was acquired in 2007 by a joint venture between Hines and Sterling American Property Inc.

“California’s economy and environment benefit from companies that find cleaner ways of doing business,” said State Controller John Chiang.

“As California’s Controller and as a tenant at 300 Capitol Mall, I congratulate Hines and Sterling American Property for taking responsibility for the direction our environment is heading and for achieving LEED Gold certification.”

Hines Director of Property Management Rob Perkins said, “The tenants at 300 Capitol Mall place a high priority on sustainability and strongly support our efforts to green the building.

Within a short period of time our staff has managed to vastly improve operating efficiency and position this asset for LEED Gold certification.”

300 Capitol Mall undertook numerous sustainability measures, including: participating in Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s retro-commissioning program; reducing electrical consumption by installing new building lighting controls; reducing water usage by retrofitting plumbing and irrigation systems; improving indoor air quality by implementing a comprehensive green cleaning program; and offering Hines’ GREEN OFFICE for Tenants program, designed to enhance tenant space.

Sterling American Property Inc., a real estate investment affiliate of Sterling Equities and American Securities, LP, backs its entrepreneurial real estate investment approach with a 36-year history of national real estate development, acquisition and asset management experience.

Sterling American promotes a “green” operating platform at its commercial and residential properties across the Country.

Several of these assets have achieved LEED Gold and Silver Certification and the ENERGY STAR label.

Since 1991, its five consecutive real estate funds have invested in more than $4.5 billion in assets in 43 states, often in conjunction with strong regional joint venture partners.

Today, focused on acquiring multifamily and commercial product, Sterling American Property Inc. is recognized for its ability to respond quickly and with entrepreneurial agility to opportunities and market changes.

For more information, go to www.sterlingamerican.com.

Hines is one of the most sustainable real estate companies in the world.

In 2010 Hines was recognized by the EPA, for the third time, with the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award; Hines manages 147 labelled buildings, representing approximately 75 million square feet, in the ENERGY STAR program.

Twelve Hines development or redevelopment projects, representing more than six million square feet, have been designated as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.

Hines is also a leader in the U.S. Green Building Council’s programs, with 192 projects, representing more than 100 million square feet that have been certified, pre-certified or registered under the various LEED rating systems.

Hines was a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council and the Russian Green Building Council, and is active in the Green Building Council Brasil, the Green Building Council España, the Green Building Council Italia, the Indian Green Building Council, the BRE Environmental Assessment Method program in the United Kingdom and the Haute Qualité Environnementale program in France.