Japan Resort Residences

Skymont invested in a boutique wellness resort residence in Niseko with a focus on preserving the natural beauty of Asia’s top ski resort. Meanwhile, the Project is committed to contributing to a sustainability fund that shall support social and environmental related initiatives in Niseko.

Our Development Partner

Temak Treehouse specializes in developing boutique residences in the heart of Niseko. Specifically, it is committed to small-scale development projects to support local communities, promote local culture, and preserve natural resources. The Developer has received technical services from professional consultancy to ensure that the Project adheres to international sustainability standards. Its development philosophy is anchored on the three pillars of sustainability:

Planet – Harmony with nature and environment
People – Healthy lifestyles and engaging communities
Profits – Creating and preserving value for homeowners

Our operating partner is a globally renowned hotel & resort operator centering its business philosophy on promoting customer wellness and planet sustainability. Specifically, it is committed to small-scale “regenerative” development projects, which effectively support local communities, promote local culture, and preserve natural resources. Out of its +20 projects globally, the Operator has won numerous international sustainability and wellness awards. Regarding Yamakei Residences, the Operator is providing technical services to the development to ensure that the Project adheres to the group’s global standards in terms of sustainability.

Challenges

Emerged in recent years as the top ranking ski area in Asia, Niseko thrives upon tourism with a +10-fold increase in international tourist numbers over the past decade. The area’s defining powder snow cannot be sustained without the blessings from the natural environment, and calls for a sensible balance between economic development and environmental preservation, where the Project is of no exception.

Actions and Achievements

Natural landscape preservation – Creation of a natural stone gabion wall along the adjacent creek to preserve an overlooking view of the cascading stream, instead of simply paving over the creek at lower construction cost and complexity

*Natural Stone Gabion Wall (construction stage)*

*Lush greenery preserved around the Project*

Energy efficiency promotion – Adoption of various state-of-the-art HVAC facilities to help increase energy efficiency and improve indoor air quality in all seasons, such as energy-recovery ventilators, radiant panel, underfloor heating, low-E argon gas windows, and natural light illumination design

*Low-Energy windows and underfloor heating*

*Natural light illumination design (fit-out stage)*

Low-impact materials adoption and recycling practice

Featuring environment-friendly wood floors and doors, and the application of natural materials and recycled wood in the accent walls of all units
Adoption of robust concrete for better soundproofing and heat insulation, reducing life-cycle energy consumption
Adoption of interior carpets made of recycled polyester materials
Strict waste prevention, segregation and recycling processes in place

*Recycled wood adopted in accented walls*

Local empowerment

Skymont’s commitment to support Niseko’s environmental and social initiatives, potentially through dedicated sustainability fund for the Project
Local material sourcing and manufacturing of furnitures in Sapporo to leverage on the local manufacturing capacities and traditional craftsmanship, e.g., “Sapporo Nanseki” fireplaces, where nanseki is a quintessential soft stone material that defines and represents Hokkaido’s building tradition
Outlook – The Project will be operated in line with the Developer’s sustainable guidelines, and target LEED Silver Certification or equivalent regional energy efficiency certification

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Sustainability Guidelines

Introduction

Skymont Capital (Skymont) is an international investment manager that invests on behalf of its client-investors in private real estate and real estate related assets and businesses. Skymont is a fiduciary for its clients and regards its primary responsibility to maximize investment returns for its client-investors subject to the confines of its management agreements with clients. Skymont believes that sustainability factors should be considered as they have the potential to impact value to its investments to varying degrees across asset classes, markets, jurisdictions, and time. Skymont commits to integrating sustainability initiatives in the context of fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities.

Purpose

This Sustainability Guideline is designed to:

(I)Define Skymont’s perspective toward sustainability

(II)Provide Skymont’s employees with guidelines regarding the implementation of the sustainability principle when evaluating and managing investments and partnerships

(III)Communicate with clients, vendors and other stakeholders how Skymont shall integrate sustainability considerations into its investment management, partnership formation and vendor selection processes, and which sustainability factors Skymont may weigh over the processes while remaining focused on maximizing long term investment performances

Skymont believes incorporating sustainability considerations into various aspects of our investment management process will help us better fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our investors, creating and preserving lasting value.

Investment

Skymont applies ESG integration to its investment decision making. When assessing a potential investment, sustainability is an important dimension of its due diligence process. For each deal under scrutiny, Skymont’s sustainability considerations behind it include but are not limited to natural resources preservation, clean energy adoption, local community empowerment, health and wellbeing enhancement, etc. Skymont targets to deliver sustainable returns and minimize ESG risk exposure, while trying to create positive environmental and societal impacts. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Skymont has actively adopted various digitalization tools to digitize its sourcing and due diligence efforts (e.g.,virtual site inspections, meetings), which has increased work efficiency while reducing expenses and carbon footprint.

Operation and Reporting

Operation and reporting comprise two important pillars of Skymont’s portfolio management:

By partnering with the best-in-class operators and creating specialized operating platforms that best understand the respective market and sector, Skymont has been facilitating best practices in the operation of its investments, creating value and driving performance therein.

Skymont has maintained a rigorous fund stewardship and a transparent reporting process supported by institutional fund infrastructure, promising peace of mind to our investors that they continuously have timely access to an accurate view of our investment performance.

Partners, Vendors and Tenants

Skymont believes in the power of working together to achieve synergy, and has integrated sustainability considerations into the assessment and choice of its potential partners, vendors and tenants, and regularly communicates on and promotes the sustainability principle with its existing partners, vendors and tenants to encourage alignment in practice. Most of Skymont’s existing partners and vendors have explicit sustainability policies in place, and are sustainability practice leaders in their respective fields, often recognized by preeminent ESG awards.

For both existing and potential partners, vendors and tenants, Skymont adopts an approach of fairness and integrity in the interest of fostering long term relationships.

Company Culture and Employee Training

Skymont believes its employees are vital to the implementation of its corporate strategy and to ensuring sustainable business success. Therefore, Skymont continuously engages and empowers its employees by maintaining a lean decision structure that fosters employee involvement and creativity, and encouraging lifelong learning and brainstorming with innovative minds both inside and outside the traditional real estate world. Skymont believes this will keep itself uniquely competitive in formulating strategies and decisions that shall capitalize on the long-term trends. Meanwhile, Skymont also supports ESG learning for its employees to ensure that ESG integration starts from the doorsteps of our office.

Looking Ahead

Moving forward, Skymont looks forward to furthering its commitment to the sustainability principle by systematically integrating more ESG dimensions into its investment management and operational processes.

Skymont will take a holistic approach in its investment selection process that shall seek sustainable returns, minimize ESG risk exposure that can create positive environmental and societal impacts to the surrounding world. Meanwhile, Skymont will continue to improve its operating performance and reporting transparency.

Case Studies