Asset & Portfolio Classification

Two indicators of the GRESB Real Estate Assessment ask participants to identify the property type and location associated with the reporting entity.

1. Portfolio Level: Indicator RC4

2. Asset Level: Indicator R1

This page aims to help participants understand the property types available for selection and how an entity's asset composition determines its overall portfolio classification.

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Every reporting entity must have a primary property type and location (i.e., the sector and location in which the majority of the portfolio's assets exist). GRESB uses this information to assign the entity to a predefined peer group and establish benchmarks.

GRESB identifies an entity's primary property type and location through one of two scenarios, which depend on the components the entity completes:

• Scenario 1: If the entity completes the Performance and/or Development Component(s), GRESB automatically identifies its portfolio-level/primary property type and location based on asset-level information reported via indicator(s) R1 (Standing Investment Portfolio) and/or DR1 (Development Portfolio).

• Scenario 2: If the entity completes only the Management Component, the entity must self-identify its portfolio-level/primary property type and location via indicator RC4.

Regardless of which scenario above applies, participants can refer to GRESB's thresholds and property type definitions below to understand an entity's primary classification.

Primary Property Type & Location Thresholds

Primary Property Type Thresholds

An entity’s Primary Property Type is based on the most specific category that accounts for at least 75% of its Gross Asset Value (GAV).

For example, if 75% or more of an entity’s gross asset value (GAV) belongs to one property subtype (e.g., Retail, Shopping Center), this becomes the entity’s Primary Property Type.

However, if less than 75% of an entity’s GAV belongs to one property subtype, but 75% or more of the entity’s GAV belongs to one property type (e.g., Retail Centers), this becomes the entity’s Primary Property Type.

Note for Office, Retail, and Residential Diversified Entities:

• If 75% or more of an entity’s GAV is split between the property sectors Office and Retail, Office and Residential, or Office and Industrial, the entity’s categorization will correspond to Diversified Office/Retail, Diversified Office/Residential, or Diversified Office/Industrial, respectively. The % of GAV allocated to the ‘Mixed Use’ property types that are in line with those categories is also considered for the calculation of the GAV threshold.

• For example, if an entity’s total GAV is allocated as follows:

  • 25% Offices,

  • 20% Industrial,

  • 30% Mixed Use, Office/Industrial,

  • 25% Other

• The entity will be categorized as Diversified Office/Industrial.

If 75% or more of an entity’s GAV does not belong to a single property sector or any of the Sector combinations listed above, the entity’s categorization will be Diversified.

Primary Location Thresholds

An entity’s primary property location is based on the most specific geography that accounts for at least 60% of its Gross Asset Value (GAV).

For example, if 60% or more of an entity’s GAV is located in one country, this country becomes the entity’s primary location.

However, if less than 60% of an entity’s GAV is located in one country, but 60% or more of the entity’s GAV is located in a subregion (e.g., Eastern Asia), this subregion becomes the entity’s primary location.

The logic above also applies to the subregion and region.

Property Type Definitions

The categories below aim to group assets with similar utility consumption profiles and other common characteristics.

The GRESB property type structure is organized into a three-level hierarchy:

• Property Sector (broadest level)

• Property Type (sub-category within a sector)

• Property Sub-Type (most specific level)

For technical details and examples on classifying mixed-use properties, participants can refer to the R1: Asset Characteristics page.

Note that GRESB calculates the Common Area / Total Floor Area ratio based on the previous year’s data reported at the asset level. GRESB provides this information for participants to use when they only know their Lettable Floor Area. Participants who do not track the gross floor area of their assets can use these estimated intervals to calculate the size of their common areas.

Property Sector	Property Type	Property Sub-type	Description	Common Area Ratio*
Retail	Retail, High Street	Retail, High Street	Retail properties located on the high street in a particular area, usually terraced properties located in the city center or other high-traffic pedestrian zones. Regional examples: North America: Street Retail	[1%-5%]
	Retail Centers	Retail, Shopping Center	Enclosed centers for retail purposes consisting of multiple retail stores connected with internal walkways. Most stores will not have an external exit. Regional examples : Europe: Shopping Center North America: Shopping Mall, Enclosed Mall, Department Store Australia: City Centre	[20%-30%]
		Retail, Strip Mall	Strip mall refers to properties comprising more than one retail store, restaurant, or other business, in an open-air configuration where each establishment has an exterior entrance to the public and there are no internal walkways. Regional examples : Europe: Convenience Shopping Centres, Urban District Centres North America: Strip Malls Australia: Sub Regional, Regional, Major Regional, or Super Regional Centers	[1%-5%]
		Retail, Lifestyle Center	Retail centers that consist of both enclosed and unenclosed spaces, often including retail stores as well as leisure amenities. Regional examples: Europe: Shopping Villages Asia: Entertainment Retail Facilities	[1%-5%]
		Retail, Warehouse	A big box, single-tenant retail property. Regional examples: Europe: Retail Warehouse, Retail Parks North America: Bix Box Retail Australia: Bulky Goods Centre	[1%-5%]
	Retail, Restaurants/Bars	Retail, Restaurants/Bars	Restaurants/Bars refers to buildings used primarily for social/entertainment purposes and are characterized by most of the revenue being generated from the sale of beverages or food.	[1%-5%]
	Retail, Other	Retail, Other	Other Retail properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[1%-15%]
Office	Office, Corporate	Low-Rise Office	Low-rise office properties with 1 to 4 stories.	[20%-30%]
		Mid-Rise Office	Mid-rise office properties with 5 to 9 stories.	[20%-30%]
		High-Rise Office	Office properties with 10 or more stories.	[20%-30%]
	Office, Business Park	Office, Business Park	A group of office properties being classified as a single financial asset and for which individual property consumpti	[20%-30%]
	Office, Other	Office, Other	Other Office properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[20%-30%]
Industrial	Distribution Warehouse	Industrial, Refrigerated Warehouse	Industrial buildings used for the purpose of storing, processing, and distribution of refrigerated goods to wholesalers, retailers, and/or consumers.	[1%-5%]
		Industrial, Non-refrigerated Warehouse	Industrial buildings used for the purpose of storing, processing, and distribution of non-refrigerated goods to wholesalers, retailers, and/or consumers.	[1%-5%]
	Industrial Park	Industrial Park	An industrial business park is an area zoned for the purpose of industrial development, where (lightweight) industrial properties are grouped together with offices. Examples may include, but are not limited to: industrial estate, trading estate and enterprise zone.	[1%-5%]
	Manufacturing	Manufacturing	Industrial properties used for the purpose of manufacturing, otherwise known as a factory or manufacturing plant.	[1%-5%]
	Industrial, Other	Industrial, Other	Other Industrial properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[1%-5%]
Residential	Residential Multi-Family	Low-Rise Multi-Family	Refers to multi-family residential buildings of 1 to 3 occupiable stories above grade.	[20%-30%]
		Mid-Rise Multi-Family	Refers to multi-family residential buildings of 4 to 8 occupiable stories above grade.	20%-30%]
		High-Rise Multi-Family	Refers to multi-family residential buildings of more than 8 occupiable stories above grade.	20%-30%]
	Family Homes	Family Homes	Includes both single-family homes and multi-dwelling units not including apartment blocks. Single-family homes are separate, free-standing residential properties. A multi-dwelling family home includes those such as two-flats, duplex, semi-detached, and townhouses. Synonyms include: Single-family home, single-detached dwelling, detached house, single-family residence, separate house, free-standing house, townhouse, duplex, condo, semi-detached, villa.	[1%-10%]
	Student Housing	Student Housing	Residential properties used for the purpose of housing students, otherwise known as student apartments, student houses, student residence, student quarters, and student accommodation.	[25%-35%]
	Retirement Living	Retirement Living	Retirement living, otherwise known as retirement villages, are communities comprised of people at a similar stage in life who are seeking a specific lifestyle. Retirement villages are made up of private homes and usually offer a range of shared facilities.	[25%-35%]
	Residential, Other	Residential, Other	Other Residential properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[1%-35%]
Hotel	Hotel	Hotel	Includes hotels, motels, and youth hostels.	[15%-25%]
Lodging, Leisure & Recreation	Lodging, Leisure & Recreation	Indoor Arena	Enclosed structures used primarily for professional or collegiate sports and entertainment events. Examples include closed stadiums and indoor sports courts.	[15%-25%]
		Fitness Center	Properties used for recreational or professional athletic training and related activities.	[15%-25%]
		Performing Arts	Properties used for public or private artistic or musical performances.	[15%-25%]
		Swimming Center	Recreational center with a heated swimming pool located either inside or outside.	[15%-25%]
		Museum/Gallery	Properties that display collections to outside visitors for public viewing and enjoyment and for informational/educational purposes.	[15%-25%]
		Lodging, Leisure & Recreation, Other	Other lodging, leisure & recreation properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[15%-25%]
Education	Education	School	Properties or campuses used as a school for Kindergarten through 12th grade students.	[1%-5%]
		University	College/University refers to properties used for the purpose of higher education.	[1%-5%]
		Library	Properties used to store and manage collections of literary and artistic materials such as books, periodicals, newspapers, films, etc. that can be used for reference or lending.	[1%-5%]
		Education, Other	Other education properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[1%-5%]
Technology/Science	Technology/Science	Data Center	Properties specifically designed and equipped to meet the needs of high-density computing equipment, such as server racks, used for data storage and processing. Typically, these facilities require dedicated uninterruptible power supplies and cooling systems. Data center functions may include traditional enterprise services, on-demand enterprise services, high performance computing, internet facilities, and/or hosting facilities.	[1%-10%]
		Laboratory/Life sciences	Laboratory refers to properties that provide controlled conditions in which scientific research, measurement, and experiments are performed or practical science is taught	[20%-30%]
		Technology/Science, Other	Other technology/science properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types	[1%-30%]
Healthcare	Healthcare Center	Healthcare Center	Properties used for the purpose of primary healthcare. Examples may include, but are not limited to: hospitals, clinics, physical therapy centers, mental health centers, rehabilitation or restorative care centers.	[15%-35%]
	Healthcare, Medical Office	Healthcare, Medical Office	Examples may include but are not limited to: offices specifically used for the purpose of medical administration, secondary research or other purposes, buildings used to provide diagnosis and treatment for medical, dental, or psychiatric outpatient care, exclusive of the property types specified for Healthcare center.	[15%-35%]
	Senior Homes	Senior Homes	Healthcare properties used for the purpose of housing seniors, otherwise known as senior assisted living homes, old-age homes, or aged care.	[15%-35%]
	Healthcare, Other	Healthcare, Other	Other healthcare properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[15%-35%]
Mixed Use	Mixed Use	Mixed Use, Office/Retail	Mixed use properties containing Office and Retail spaces.	[5%-30%]
		Mixed Use, Office/Residential	Mixed use properties containing Office and Residential spaces.	[5%-30%]
		Mixed Use, Office/Industrial	Mixed use properties containing Office and Industrial spaces.	[5%-30%]
		Mixed Use, Other	Other mixed-use properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[5%-30%]
Other	Other	Parking (Indoors)	Enclosed, indoor vehicle parking facilities, usually consisting of numerous levels for which vehicles are intended to be parked. Otherwise known as multi-story car park, parking building, parking garage, stacked car parking and indoor parking.	[5%-35%]
		Self-Storage	Indoor property or warehouse used for the purpose of self-storage for individuals and/or organizations, otherwise known as self-service storage.	[5%-15%]
		Other	Other indoor properties that do not fit in the aforementioned property types.	[5%-35%]