The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Hines, the global real estate investor, developer, and property manager, have launched the fifth annual ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe. Applications are now open to enter the team challenge, with a submission deadline of 1st March 2024.

The prestigious competition invites multidisciplinary teams representing European universities and business schools to put their combined skills, expertise, and knowledge of real estate to the test in a challenging urban regeneration exercise. Participants must consider a variety of core elements that impact decisions around responsible land-use and sustainable development, including real estate finance, investment, design, planning, and social and environmental issues.

The competition final will be held for the first time as an in-person event at Hines’ new European Headquarters – ‘Grainhouse’ – in London on 15th April 2024. Teams will work on a practical development case study before presenting their solutions to a jury of industry leaders, with the winning team announced on the same day. The theme of the 2024 case study by revealed on the day of the final. Previous challenges have focused on proposals for a social housing project in Berlin, the redevelopment of a former dairy factory in Madrid, and a vision for a future workplace in Amsterdam.

To enter the first stage of the competition, teams must submit a simple application video introducing each participant, which also focuses on a favourite urban development or place. Applications are submitted via the ULI website with the CVs of each team member and will be reviewed by the ULI, Hines and other senior industry professionals.

All finalists will receive:
• complimentary travel and accommodation to attend the in-person live final; and,
• a one-year ULI membership providing access to research content, events, webinars, education and mentorship programmes, knowledge sharing, and connections with a global network of real estate and land use professionals.

Each member of the winning team will also receive:
• a fast-track to the Hines internship programme;
• a guided tour of an existing development project;
• participation in project meetings in Hines’ European Headquarters in London;
• complimentary access to tailored opportunities to participate in ULI’s programmes, depending on location and interest; and,
• complimentary entrance only to the flagship 2024 ULI Europe Annual Conference next June in Milan*.

Over the last four years, 65 teams composed of approximately 250 students representing universities from across Europe have applied to enter the competition. Previous winners have included the University of Manchester (UK), ESSEC Business School (France), The London Business School (UK) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “This initiative continues to provide a high quality platform for those starting out in the industry to develop their real estate expertise, and delivers a springboard for students to propel their careers. We are excited about this year’s in-person format at our new European headquarters at Grainhouse and anticipate another inspiring final with even greater collaboration as the teams formulate creative solutions to a real urban development challenge.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “This competition focuses on the important next generation of real estate talent, to encourage greater diversity in the industry and encapsulate the importance of collaboration between all different professions and public and private sector in finding innovative solutions to some of the major challenges our societies face. It mirrors many of the priorities of the Urban Land Institute, and particularly in how we all need to work together to have a transformative impact in communities worldwide, by sharing knowledge and best practice.”

“We are proud of the continued partnership with Hines and thrilled to open applications for the fifth annual competition, and we’re expecting significant interest from university and business school students. This competition is an annual highlight, providing a very challenging but enjoyable experience for all participants, including students, mentors, and jury members, which generates many impressive, highly creative solutions to the task set.”

Details of how to apply for the 2024 ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe are available at www.europe.uli.org/StudentCompetition24

* Conference ticket only. The associated travel and accommodation to attend the Europe Conference must be met separately by the winners.

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Notes to editors

For further information, please contact:

– Tony Nokling, Director, Communications, EMEA at ULI Europe: [email protected]
– Andrew Smith, Corporate Communications Manager – Hines Europe: [email protected]

Background to original ULI Hines Student Competition

– The ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe is affiliated with a U.S. version, which was established in 2002.
– Long-time ULI leader Gerald D. Hines, founder of the Hines real estate organisation, created the competition with a generous endowment after he received the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development in 2002.

About the Urban Land Institute

– The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
– In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.
– For more information on ULI, please visit https://europe.uli.org, follow us on Twitter or follow our LinkedIn page.

About Hines

– Hines is a global real estate investment, development and property manager. The firm was founded by Gerald D. Hines in 1957 and now operates in 30 countries. We manage a $94.6B¹ in high-performing assets across residential, logistics, retail, office, and mixed-use strategies. Our local teams serve 790 properties totaling nearly 269 million square feet globally. We are committed to a net zero carbon target by 2040 without buying offsets. To learn more about Hines, visit www.hines.com and follow @Hines on Twitter and LinkedIn.
– ¹Includes both the global Hines organization and RIA AUM as of June 30, 2023.