Urban Land Institute

Best of the Best: Urban Land Institute Announces Ten Winners for the  2004 Awards for Excellence Competition

Winners Announced During Gala Awards Ceremony at Fall Meeting

NEW YORK (November 5, 2004)  Ten outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) 2004 Awards for Excellence competition, widely recognized as the land use industrys most prestigious recognition program.

The competition, established in 1979, is based on ULIs guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognized and rewarded. ULIs Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success.

Over the years, the Awards for Excellence program has evolved from a recognition of one development in North America to an international competition with multiple winners, including the Heritage Award, which recognizes projects at least 25 years old that set the highest standards for excellence. This year, the program added the ULI Awards for Excellence: Europe; ULI Europe announced the five European winners last June in Madrid, Spain. Throughout the programs history all types of projects have been recognized for their excellence, including office, residential, recreational, urban/mixed-use, industrial/office park, commercial/retail, new community, rehabilitation and public projects.

The 2004 Awards for Excellence winners, chosen from 19 finalists, were selected by a jury of renowned land use development and design experts: Jury Chair Diana Permar, Permar, Inc, Charleston; Robert A. Alleborn, president, Robert Alleborn Properties, Inc., Newport Beach, Calif; Jan A. de Kreij, Corio, N.V., Utrecht, The Netherlands; Barbara Faga, chair, EDAW Inc., Atlanta; Richard F. Galehouse, principal, Sasaki Associates, Inc., Watertown, Mass.; J. Brad Griffith, Griffith Properties, Boston; John S. Hagestad, managing director, Sares-Regis Group, Irvine, Calif.; Richard E. Heapes, principal, Street-Works, White Plains, N.Y.; Pamela J. Herbst, principal and head of direct investments, AEW Capital Management, L.P., Boston; Frederick A. Kober, chairman, The Christopher Companies, Fairfax, Va.; Isaac H. Manning, president, Trinity Works, Fort Worth; James D. Motta, president and CEO, Arvida, Boca Raton; James F. Porter, partner, Altoon & Porter Architects, LLP, Los Angeles; Leonard A. Zax, partner, Latham & Watkins, Washington, D.C.

ULI Chairman Harry Frampton announced the Awards for Excellence winners during a gala celebrating the finalists at ULIs Fall Meeting in New York City. The Awards for Excellence program is as much about celebrating the people who make the developments a reality as the developments themselves, Frampton said. Behind every great project is an individual who is passionate about the project and dedicated to seeing it through from start to finish.   

Projects were evaluated on the basis of financial viability, the resourceful use of land, design, relevance to contemporary issues, and sensitivity to the community and environment. Each contributes to a live-work-play environment and is designed to complement and enhance the greater community.

The 2004 Awards for Excellence winners (owners and/or developers in parentheses) are:

• Baldwin Park, Orlando, Florida (Baldwin Park Development Company [an asset of the Pritzker family]) Baldwin Park is located on the site of the former Orlando Naval Training Center. The dismantling of the NTC was one of the largest demolition projects in the nations history. Demolition began in 2000 and at completion in 2006, Baldwin Park will contain approximately 3,600 homes, 950,000 square feet of retail and office space and house 8,000 residents. Baldwin Park features more than 400 acres of parks, lakes and open space and represents a model for future military base reuse projects.
• Fall Creek Place, Indianapolis, Indiana (City of Indianapolis; Mansur Real Estate Services; King Park Area Development Corporation) An innovative public-private endeavor that transformed a crime-ridden, deteriorating urban neighborhood of vacant lots into a healthy, attractive, mixed-income residential community of 360 new single-family homes. The project balances affordability with high-quality design and low- and moderate-income homes that are indistinguishable from the market-rate homes.
• First Ward Place/The Garden District, Charlotte, North Carolina (City of Charlotte; Charlotte Housing Authority; Banc of America Community Development Corporation) A former public housing site has been transformed into an integrated, mixed-income project through a public-private partnership. An additional 12 acres of vacant land and dilapidated structures adjoining First Ward Place was transformed into the Garden District, a neighborhood of for-sale market-rate housing. This public-private partnership has sparked investment in adjacent areas exceeding $100 million.
• Fullerton Square Project, Singapore (Far East Organization/Sino Land) Originally built in 1924 as a symbol of the colonial governments vision for a classically monumental civic center, the historic Fullerton has been transformed into a world-class hotel. Stringent conservation guidelines preserved the façade and interior historical elements. A new two-story commercial complex is linked to the historic building by an underground walkway.
• Playhouse Square Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Playhouse Square Foundation) The first public-private partnership in the city of Cleveland, this two decade-long, $55 million restoration of five architecturally and historically significant theaters is now the shining star in Clevelands downtown revitalization. The Playhouse Square Foundation has developed and owns nearby commercial properties, including a hotel, restaurants and retail space, generating enough revenue to make the Playhouse Square Center virtually self-supporting.
• The Plaza at PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania (Liberty Property Trust) Allentowns first major new downtown business development in 10 years, the Plaza at PPL Center incorporates a broad spectrum of sustainable design features and is certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold building. Since the opening of the eight-story 250,000 square-foot building in May 2003, it has served as a catalyst for further economic development in the downtown business district.
• Technology Square at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Institute of Technology; Georgia Tech Foundation; Jones Lang LaSalle) In a previously blighted and vacant three-block area of Midtown Atlanta, Georgia Institute of Technology has overcome physical and psychological barriers to reconnect the university and the midtown neighborhood by developing a vibrant, 24/7 urban campus. The project features wide, tree-lined sidewalks with benches and bicycle lanes, shops and restaurants, a hotel, on-street and garage parking and public transportation. The project has helped create a visible technology corridor and energized a midtown renaissance.
• University Park at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Forest City Enterprises; City of Cambridge Community Development Department; Massachusetts Institute of Technology) A blighted 27-acre site was reenergized by blending diverse uses to create a vibrant urban campus. A three-way partnership, an investment of $560 million and a 20-year effort culminated in a 2.3 million square foot mixed-use campus with biotechnology research facilities and office, residential, retail and hotel uses in a master-planned campus that has become the heart of Cambridges intellectual Mecca.
• Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles County and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Inc.) Fifteen years in the making, this $274 million Frank Gehry-designed concert hall was completed in June 2003, and serves as an inspiring example of what can be created when public and private partners join together to pursue a complex goal. The concert hall has become a catalyst for downtown revitalization as well as a tourist destination.
• WaterColor, Seagrove Beach, Florida (The St. Joe Company) A 500-acre, mixed-use, master-planned community that celebrates the natural features and amenities of its northwest Florida Gulf Coast setting and regional building traditions. At build-out, WaterColor will include 1,140 homes, a beach club, a tennis club, a golf club, a fitness center, a 60-room inn, office and retail space, parks and an extensive trail network. Nearly half the site is allocated to open space and preservation areas.