48 - Addressing climate change & housing affordability through real estate development

The Impact Investing Podcast

Real estate as an asset class has had an absolutely remarkably run since the 1980’s when we entered a several-decade period of economic prosperity, stable inflation, and declining interest rates. Add to that, more than a decade of quantitative easing that continued to ensure cheap financing was available for consumers and homebuyers alike.

But as with every good story, it eventually must come to an end, as it has for real estate and the economy more generally in 2022. As inflation has reared its head, we’ve been left rising interest rates on top of high prices for goods and real estate, thereby dramatically straining housing affordability.

Enter today’s guest, Mazyar Mortavazi, President & CEO of TAS Impact, an unconventional impact company that uses real estate as a tool to tackle climate change, broaden affordability and equity, and build social capital to create neighbourhoods– and ultimately cities – where people thrive and belong. TAS Impact is a Certified B Corporation, a signatory to PRI and a member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), TAS pursues opportunities that create value for investors and generate measurable social and environmental impact.

During this episode, Mazyar and I discuss the current state of the real estate market and how we got into the affordability predicament we’re in, the institutionalization of residential real estate investing, the ESG and impact issues with conventional real estate development, new investment models addressing housing affordability, TAS Impact’s impact measurement framework, and the importance of inviting communities into the property development process. And be sure to stay tuned to the very end when Mazyar discusses where he sees the real estate industry headed in the next decade.

Resources from this episode:

• Tas Impact Framework
• Inaugural Annual Tas Impact Report 2022
• Mazyar’s Twitter

Resources from the episode announcements:

• Check out Criterion Institute’s new podcast
• Discussion of Employee Ownership Trusts