California Academy of Science Wins ULI Award for Excellence

CPDB congratulates clients, California Academy of Science and Forest City’s Westfield San Francisco Centre as finalists for the 2009 Urban Land Institute’s Awards for Excellence.

Press Release from ULI

SUCCESS DESPITE THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN: ULI ANNOUNCES TEN WINNERS FOR THE 2009 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE: THE AMERICAS COMPETITION; HERITAGE AWARD WINNER ALSO SELECTED

For more information, contact Trisha Riggs at 202/624-7086 or email: priggs@uli.org

ATLANTA (April 24, 2009)

Ten outstanding developments from the Americas have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Awards for Excellence: The Americas competition, along with one winner of the Institute’s prestigious Heritage Award. The winners of the awards competition, widely recognized as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program, were announced at ULI’s Spring Council Forum in Atlanta.

The competition is part of the Institute’s Awards for Excellence program, established in 1979, which is based on ULI’s guiding principle of recognizing best practice through the awards to promote better land use and development. ULI’s 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 viability.

The Heritage Award, also announced this year, is not an annual award, but rather is bestowed periodically to developments that have demonstrated industry excellence and made substantial contributions to the greater community’s well-being for at least 25 years.

The Heritage Award winner is the Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore Maryland. The ten Awards for Excellence winners are: California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Comcast Center, Philadelphia; The Cork Factory Loft Apartments, Pittsburgh; Devries Place Senior Apartments, Milpitas, Calif.; Heifer International World Headquarters; Little Rock, Ark.; Kansas City Power and Light District, Kansas City, Mo.; Kierland Commons, Scottsdale, Ariz.; The RISE, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; UniverCity, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada; and West Chelsea/High Line Rezoning Plan, New York City.

Over the years, the Awards for Excellence program has evolved from recognition of one development in North America to an international competition with multiple winners. The ULI Awards for Excellence: Europe was added in 2004, followed by the ULI Awards for Excellence: Asia Pacific and the Global Awards in 2005. Throughout the program’s 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 and programs.

The 2009 Awards for Excellence: The Americas winners and the Heritage Award winner were selected by a jury of renowned land use development and design experts: Jury chairman Marilee A. Utter, president, Citiventure Associates, LLC, Denver; Douglas W. Betz, managing partner, Woolpert LLP, Dayton, Ohio; Thomas E. Cody, principal, ProjectPDX, Portland, Ore.; James J. Curtis, managing partner, Bristol Group, Inc., San Francisco;  Richard M. Gollis, principal, The Concord Group, LLC, Newport Beach, Calif.; Gary A. Hack, professor of urban design, University of Pennsylvania, School of Design, Philadelphia; William H. Kreager, principal, Mithun Architects + Designers + Planners, Seattle; Terry R. Montesi, president and chief executive officer, Trademark Property Company, Fort Worth, Texas; J. Michael Pitchford, president and chief executive officer, Community Preservation and Development Corporation, Washington, D.C.; Rebecca R. Zimmermann, principal, Design Workshop, Inc., Denver.

The 2009 winners were selected from more than 140 entries. The jury was challenged by the large number of applications and the high quality of the projects, which struck the judges as particularly significant in the current economic environment.

According to Jury Chairman Utter, the awards winners illustrate that well-designed, well-built projects can thrive even in dark economic times. “These are great examples of success that showcase creativity, innovation, and long-term thinking,” Utter said. “Perhaps now more than ever, the ULI Awards for Excellence program reminds us of the key difference that responsible land use development can make, in terms of longevity and overall community sustainability.”

More information about ULI’s Awards for Excellence program is at www.uli.org/awardsandcompetitions.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) 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 40,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.