PRESS RELEASES

A Test in Innovation: Sites in Salt Lake Valley Chosen for 2005 ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition

2/16/2005

(SALT LAKE CITY, UT) – Two development sites in Salt Lake Valley have been chosen as the sites for the third annual ULI (Urban Land Institute) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, an ideas competition for university students created to honor the legacy of urban development pioneer Gerald D. Hines, chairman of the Hines real estate organization and the 2002 laureate of the Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development.

The competition, now underway, is open to graduate students who are pursuing real estate-related studies at a North American university, including programs in real estate development, urban planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture. Through the competition, interdisciplinary teams of students are challenged to offer practical, workable solutions for the development of one of two sites owned by the Kennecott Land; both are located at the northern end of the company’s holdings. The sites are Magna, a 2,208-acre portion of Magna Township in Salt Lake County; and an undeveloped site, known as the Northwest Planning Area, which comprises 2,002 acres and is in the jurisdiction of Salt Lake City.

Students are required to choose one of the two sites for their entries in the urban design competition. Each team must provide justification for selecting the site, design a master plan for the site and supply financial projections to support the master development plan. A $50,000 prize will be awarded to the winning team; and an additional $50,000 will be split among the remaining finalist teams. This year, applications were submitted from 81 teams comprised of more than 400 students representing 25 universities nationwide.

The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition strives to encourage cooperation and teamwork -- necessary talents in the planning, design and development of great places -- among future land use professionals and allied professions, such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, historic preservation, engineering, real estate development, finance, psychology and law.

“This competition aims to give the next generation a better understanding of the challenges involved in urban design, and how the different elements -- various land uses, public areas, traffic patterns – all interact to influence how urban areas grow,” said competition jury chairman Joseph Brown, president and chief executive officer of EDAW, Inc., in San Francisco. “It’s part of our effort to draw the best and brightest young minds to our industry. Students are able to mix creativity with functionality, giving them experience to draw upon in shaping the communities of the future.” 

The competition site of Magna includes developable and undevelopable areas. The developable component includes both Main Street, owned by several entities, and undeveloped land, owned by Kennecott Land. Main Street, the township’s underutilized commercial and civic focal point, is defined for the competition as a 100-acre area one block north and one block south of 2700 South.

The Northwest Planning Area competition site stretches south of Interstate 80 and east of the impoundment berm encircling Tailings Pond. It is a completely undeveloped site.

The location of the 2005 competition sites – on the outskirts of an urban area, rather than downtown – reflect ULI’s ongoing efforts to promote improved development patterns in suburban areas, said ULI President Richard M. Rosan. “With most development in urban regions occurring on the fringe, ULI has stepped up its focus on ways to both accommodate growth and conserve land in these outlying areas,” Rosan said. “This year’s competition provides a prime opportunity for the students to explore the concept of suburban smart growth in relation to the greater urban region, and to create workable, practicable schemes based on that concept.”

Rosan noted that the quality growth strategy supported by the Envision Utah public-private partnership provides a solid foundation for the students’ work. In 2002, Envision Utah received a ULI Award for Excellence in recognition of the partnership’s creation of the growth strategy, which seeks to increase air quality; increase mobility and transportation choices; preserve critical agricultural and environmentally sensitive land; conserve water resources; provide housing for a range of incomes and families; and maximize efficiency in public investments.    

The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition has been funded in perpetuity through a $3 million endowment from Gerald Hines. A legend in the land use profession, he is widely known as an industry leader who pioneered the use of high-quality planning and architecture as a marketable feature of development in office, residential and mixed-use projects. The ULI J.C. Nichols Prize was awarded to Hines in recognition of his extraordinary work in community building and urban design.

“Real estate development is a very exciting, imaginative field. It involves many disciplines and interaction with so many parts of our world - finance, politics, science, psychology -- it affects the lives of so many people,” Hines said. “Through this competition, we are raising awareness among the students of the key role high-quality urban design plays in creating not just beautiful buildings, but whole living environments.”

Teams have received project briefing materials, including a comprehensive problem statement; background information on the site; market information; relevant existing design proposals; and other details, along with a list of materials required for team presentations. The competition is designed as an exercise; there is no guarantee that the students’ plans will be implemented as part of any revitalization of the site.

Four finalist teams and up to four honorable mentions will be named on February 28, 2005. In the final phase of the competition, the student finalist teams will have the opportunity to expand their original schemes and respond in more detail. During this time, a member of each team will be brought to Salt Lake City, and they will have the opportunity to tour the sites and revise their presentations. On April 1, 2005, finalist team members will present their programs to the competition jury members during a public forum in Salt Lake City. The event will culminate with the announcement of the winning team.

In addition to Brown, the competition jury consists of renowned real estate development, urban planning and design experts: Denise Gammon, senior vice president of development, Forest City Stapleton, Denver; Con Howe, director of planning, City of Los Angeles; Charles R. Kendrick, Jr., managing director, Clarion Ventures, LLC, Boston; A. Eugene Kohn, president, Kohn Pedersen Fox, New York City; Todd Mansfield, chief executive officer, Crosland Inc., Charlotte, N.C.; Patrick Phillips, president of Economics Research Associates, Washington, D.C.; and Marilyn Taylor, partner, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, New York City.

For more information on the competition, visit www.udcompetition.uli.org.