LONDON (5 June, 2017) — Twenty-five extraordinary developments from around the world have been selected as finalists for the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 2017 Global Awards for Excellence, which is widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious award programmes. This year’s finalists include three located in Asia, two in Europe, and 20 in North America.

A group of winners chosen from the finalists will be announced in October at the 2017 ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles. The finalists (developers and designers in brackets) are:

• Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain (Developers: Bilbao City Council, Alhóndiga, Center of Ocio y Cultura, Bilbao Ría; Designer: Philippe Starck)
• Ballpark Village, St. Louis, Missouri, United States (Developer: The Cordish Companies; Designer: Design Collective, Jeffrey Beers International)
• Brickell City Centre, Miami, Florida, United States (Developer: Swire Properties Inc.; Designer: Arquitectonica)
• Buffalo Bayou Park, Houston, Texas, United States (Developer: Buffalo Bayou Partnership; Designer: SWA Group, Page)
• Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago, Illinois, United States (Developers: City of Chicago, Department of Transportation; Designers: Ross Barney Architects [All Phases], Sasaki [Phases 2, 3] Alfred Benesch & Company [Phases 2, 3], Jacobs/Ryan Associates [All Phases] and Collins Engineers [Phase 1])
• Downtown Allentown Revitalization District (including PPL Center Arena Block & City Center Lehigh Valley), Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States (Owners/developers:  Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority, Hammes Company, City Center Investment Corp. et al.; Designers: Sink Combs Dethlefs Architects, Elkus – Manfredi Architects, et al.)
• Emeryville Center of Community Life, Emeryville, California, United States (Developers: Turner Construction Company, Andrew Pitts, Swinerton Management & Consulting; Designers: Nexus Partners, DSK Architects, Mark Seiberlich Concordia, Steven Bingler, MKThink, Steve Kelley)
• Half Moon Village, Half Moon Bay, California, United States (Developer: MidPen Housing Corp.; Designer: Herman Coliver Locus Architecture)
• Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (Developer: Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.; Designer: ZGF Architects LLP)
• Marine Gateway, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Developer: PCI Developments Corp.; Designer: Perkins+Will)
• MILANEO, Stuttgart, Germany (Developers: ECE Projektmanagement G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, STRABAG Real Estate GmbH, Projektgesellschaften der Bayerische Hausbau; Designers: RKW Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky Architektur + Städtebau, in cooperation with ECE architects)
• Milwaukee RiverWalk, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States (Developers: The Milwaukee RiverWalk District, Inc., The Mandel Group, Business Improvement District No. 2 , The Brewery Works, Inc. et al; Designers: KenKay Associates, Mary Miss, Engberg Anderson Architects, et al)
• Modera Lofts, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States (Developer: Mill Creek Residential; Designers: Minno & Wasko Architects, Cube 3, Melillo & Bauer)
• Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore, Singapore (Developer: Far East Organization; Designer: WOHA)
• One Light Luxury Apartments, Kansas City, Missouri, United States (Developer: The Cordish Companies; Designers: Humphreys & Partners Architects, Realm Architecture)
• Pearl, San Antonio, Texas, United States (Developer: Silver Ventures, Inc.; Designers: Lake Flato Architects, Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors, Don McDonald Architects, Sprinkle & Co. Architects, Ford Powell & Carson Architects, Jim Kissling Architecture, Dado Group, Clayton & Little Architecture)
• Plaza Towers, Iowa City, Iowa, United States (Developer: Moen Group, LLC; Designer: Neumann Monson Architects)
• River Point, Chicago, Illinois, United States (Developer: Hines; Designer: Pickard Chilton)
• Santana Row, San Jose, California, United States (Developer: Federal Realty Investment Trust; Designers: Designers:  SB Architects, MBH Architects, 3DI/Parsons,  Russell Davis Architects, Good Fulton & Farrell Architects, BAR Architects, SWA Group,  Studios Architecture, Ankrom Moisan, WRNS Studio)
• Seaholm Power Plant Re-Development, Austin, Texas, United States (Developer: Seaholm Power Development, LLC; Designers: STG Design, Clayton and Little Architects, TBG Partners)
• Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, Pudong, China (Developer: Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd.; Designer: Gensler, SWA Group)
• The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground, Staten Island, New York, United States (Developer: NY School Construction Authority; Designer: Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill LLP)
• University Center- The New School, New York, New York, United States (Developer: The Durst Organization; Designer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP)
• VIA 57 West, New York, New York, United States (Developer: The Durst Organization; Designer: Bjarke Ingels Group)
• West Don Lands, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Master Developer: Waterfront Toronto; Developers: Urban Capital [River City], DREAM Unlimited, Kilmer Group [Canary District], Toronto Community Housing; Public Realm Designers: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., PFS Studio with The Planning Partnership and &Co., Claude Cormier & Associates, NAK Design Strategies; Architectural Design – River City: Saucier & Perrotte, ZAS Architects; Architectural Design – Canary District: architectsAlliance, KPMB Architects, Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects, Daoust Lestage, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, Design/Builder – Canary District: EllisDon Inc., Ledcor Group)

The finalists were selected by an international jury made up of ULI members representing a multidisciplinary collection of real estate development expertise, including finance, land planning, development, public affairs, design, and other professional services.

“Each of these finalists demonstrates a thoughtful, innovative approach to urban development that is adding to the sustainability and livability of the communities in which they are located,” said Global Awards Jury Chairman Wendy Rowden, president, 42nd Street Development Corp., New York City. “The attention paid to project detail, flexible design, and neighbourhood context were among the factors making these entries stand out. They represent the type of development that will withstand the tests of time and change.”

In addition to Rowden, the 2017 Global Awards for Excellence Jury members are Stuart Ackerberg, chief executive officer, Ackerberg Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Toni Alexander, president and creative director, InterCommunications, Inc., Newport Beach, California; Jeff Barber, principal and managing director, Gensler, Washington, D.C.; Ame M. Engelhart, director, Hong Kong Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Hong Kong; Michael Grove, principal, Sasaki, Shanghai;  Sophie Henley-Price, managing director, STUDIOS Architecture, Paris, France; Lynn Hoffman Carlton, regional director of planning, HOK, Kansas City, Missouri; Lance K. Josal, chief executive officer, Callison RTKL, Dallas, Texas; Roger G. Orf, partner, Apollo Management LLP, London; Alex J. Rose, senior vice president, Continental Development Corporation, El Segundo, California; and Rebecca Stone, managing principal, OZ Architecture, Denver, Colorado.

The Awards for Excellence program, established in 1979 and subsequently expanded to a global programme, recognises real estate projects that achieve the highest standard of excellence in innovative design, construction, economics, planning, and management. Open to the entire industry (not just ULI members), the awards programme is viewed as the centerpiece of ULI’s efforts to identify and promote best practices in all types of real estate development.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 38,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit europe.uli.org, follow us on Twitter, or join our LinkedIn group.