Urban Land Institute recognizes the St. Pete Pier as top urban design project in the Americas

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St. Petersburg, FL — The St. Pete Pier has been selected as one of 10 winners of the Urban Land Institute’s 2022 Americas Awards for Excellence, a top honor recognizing the best new urban designs. 

The St. Pete Pier was the only design in the Southeastern U.S. to be awarded.

ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 to recognize superior development efforts in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Winning projects represent the highest standards of achievement in the land use profession. The winners of the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence become finalists for the 2022 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, competing against projects from Europe and Asia. ULI will announce the winners of the Global Awards ahead of the organization's Fall Meeting in October. 

“This is an incredible, meaningful accomplishment for our city and our iconic waterfront. The ULI Awards for Excellence win puts the St. Pete Pier on the map as a world class destination for residents and visitors alike. Now we will compete on the global stage, providing further opportunity to showcase our great city and this amazing attraction. Thank you to the ULI and members of the jury for honoring us with this year’s award,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch. 

This year, 68 projects and programs from across the Americas region were submitted for the competition. From this impressive field, the 11-member jury composed of development, finance, planning, urban design, architecture, and landscape architecture experts selected 21 finalists. After speaking with the teams behind these projects and visiting all of them, the jury chose the 10 winners. 

The public can view the winners, finalists, and submissions at the 2022 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence gallery 

The 2022 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence winners are: 

The awards are open to projects and programs in the ULI Americas region that are substantially complete, financially viable, and in stable operation. The program evaluates submissions on overall excellence, including achievements in marketplace acceptance, design, planning, technology, amenities, economic impact, management, community engagement, innovation, and sustainability, among others.  

In addition to an open category, which recognizes all product types, the categories for this year's awards included Equitable Development, Low-Carbon Development, Resilient Development, Small-Scale Development, and Urban Open Space. 

St. Pete was recognized in the Urban Open Space category.

The Awards for Excellence program is the centerpiece of ULI’s efforts to identify and promote best practices in all types of real estate development. For more information about the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence, visit uli.org/aae. For more information about the ULI Global Awards for Excellence, visit uli.org/gae. 

The 2022 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence jury members include:  

  • Marilynn Davis, senior advisor at HR&A Advisors, Atlanta
  • Andy Bush, founder and managing partner of Morgan Creek Ventures, Boulder, Colo.  
  • David Crabtree, design director and vice president of HHCP in Orlando  
  • Doug Craig, vice president of RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture, Phoenix Andrew Garrett, senior principal of real estate for IMCO, Toronto 
  • Jane Jenkins, president and CEO of The Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership, Oklahoma City  
  • Leroy Moore, senior vice president and COO of the Tampa Housing Authority Paul Morris, nonprofit executive in Atlanta 
  • Sara Queen, managing director and head of real estate equity at MetLife Investment Management, New York  
  • Ben Tranel, principal for Gensler, San Francisco 
  • Xiao Zheng, principal for SWA Group, Laguna Beach, Calif.