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URBAN LAND INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF SMART GROWTH AWARDS PROGRAM

July 1, 2008

San Diego, CA- (June 26, 2008) The Urban Land Institute (ULI) San Diego/Tijuana District Council today presented its fourth annual Smart Growth Awards program at the newly renovated Balboa Theatre. The Smart Growth Awards Program recognizes distinguished planning and design achievement as well as visionaries helping to fulfill and advance the principles of smart growth.

ULI defines smart growth as development that is economically sound, environmentally friendly and supportive of community livability. The keynote speaker for the event was Jerry Yudelson, PE, MBA, LEED™ AP, one of the country’s leading experts on green buildings and green building marketing.

ULI San Diego/Tijuana District Council presented four Blueprint for Excellence in Smart Growth Awards to the 2008 City of San Diego General Plan update, the City of Chula Vista Urban Core Specific Plan, the San Marcos Creek Specific Plan and the Otay Binational Corridor Strategic Plan.

The 2008 City of San Diego General Plan update is a comprehensive, long-range policy document and is the first update to the City of San Diego General Plansince 1979. It provides the framework for future growth and development in the city over the next 20 to 30 years and is designed to promote smart growth, sustainability and environmentally responsible development.

The City of Chula Vista Urban Core Specific Plancalls for developing a mix of residential, retail, office and recreational uses within the existing downtown urban area. The Specific Plan promotes incorporating green building measures, creates sustainable neighborhoods and villages and encourages all new City-sponsored buildings in the Urban Core to meet LEED Silver standards.

The San Marcos Creek Specific Plan aims at revitalizing and conserving 214 acres along San Marcos Creek in central San Marcos. The San Marcos Creek Specific Plan creates a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use town center that integrates compact urban development with restored riparian open space and creek-oriented parks. 

The Otay Binational Corridor Strategic Plan develops a framework for international collaboration that sets the stage for crafting smart growth principles in Tijuana. This first-of-its-kind bi-national collaborative effort focuses on transportation, economic development, housing and environmental conservation while addressing issues along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico international border that have a significant impact on the state of California and the entire nation

ULI presented the Catalyst Award to the SPRINTER Rail Line and the Bird Rock Coastal Traffic Flow. 

The SPRINTER, which opened in March 2008, connects Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido.  The SPRINTER line embraces smart growth principles in transportation by effortlessly transporting passengers to work, school, shopping centers and other activities along 22 miles of the Highway 78 corridor.

The Bird Rock Coastal Traffic Flow converts La Jolla Boulevard from a four-lane collector with parallel on-street parking into a two-lane collector with parallel and diagonal on-street parking. The project slows down traffic, makes the district pedestrian friendly, increases on-street parking, reestablishes the district as a destination and creates a renewed sense of identity for Bird Rock without restricting existing roadway capacity. 

A Grass Roots of the Neighborhood Award was presented to the 32nd Street Canyon Restoration.After years of urban encroachment, the 32nd Street canyon had become a neglected source of pollution. The mission of the 32nd Street Canyon Task Force is to reverse this trend by rebuilding biodiversity, improving water quality and conservation while restoring the 12-acre urban canyon.

ULI presented the Small Infill Award to KLOFTS and The Union. KLOFTS, a nine-unit loft in Golden Hill, integrates urban living environments and provides a mix of very low income, affordable and market rate rental units. The design outcome is a building with public and private spaces that enhance human scale and further promote social interaction, shared use of space and community revitalization. 

The Union revitalizes the former Textile Manufacturers' Union Hall building into two affordable live-work lofts and an office. Two on-site parking lots were developed into 13 individually sustainable "for rent" town homes. Each generates power from roof mounted photovoltaic panels and has drought tolerant landscaping. 

The Adaptive Reuse Award went to Paseo de Mission Hills, a mixed-use project that provides over 20,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, eight units of affordable rental housing and 61 market-rate condominiums and townhouses. The existing and new buildings transform an auto-oriented, 1950’s strip mall back to its original turn of the century pedestrian oriented storefront, reinforcing the gateway to this historic neighborhood. 

Market Creek Plaza earned the Social Equity Award by advancing smart growth with its proximity to the Euclid Transit Station and being an integral part of The Village at Market Creek, an economic revitalization project that will transform 60 under-utilized acres into a thriving area with 800 new homes, 350,000 square feet of commercial and industrial development and 800 new jobs, when it is completed. 

The Cross Border Award went to Coastal Training Program and Pervious Pavers Program. The Coastal Training Program at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve has influenced decision-makers by providing alternative solutions to address the environmental degradation caused from excess accumulation of sediment and erosion pollutants that flow into the Tijuana River Estuary. The Coastal Training Program chose the community of San Bernardo in Los Laureles Canyonto conduct an Erosion Control Pilot project by taking a sustainable development approach.

The Pervious Pavers Project is an ongoing effort to introduce socially and environmentally conscious infrastructure to Colonia de San Bernardo, an informal settlement in Tijuanathat has emerged along the U.S.-Mexico border as an unintended consequence of free trade agreements. At the heart of the project is a plan to pave the dirt road running through the settlement, which is especially precarious because of the colonia's hilly topography, climate and total lack of infrastructure. 

The Encouragement Award went to Cedros Crossing, which promotes smart growth principles by increasing parking for passengers using Amtrak and Coaster rail service, reducing automobile use, air pollution and global warming within the Cedros Design District and providing a mix of retail shops, small businesses, residential homes and restaurants. Cedros Crossing will be LEED certified and will be built and maintained using principles of sustainability.

ULI presented the Smart Urban Excellence Award to ICON, a contemporary residential/mixed-use project and a model for high-density urban infill. ICON is comprised of 327 residences in four towers ranging from five to 24 stories, connected by bridges and terraces surrounding the contemporary garden.  ICON includes architecture that preserves and rehabilitated historic building facades, deriving its character from the Historic Warehouse District and the Streamline Modern design of the original 1928 Carnation/Qualitee Dairy building.

The Smart Culture Award went to The New Children’s Museum, a dramatic, three-level, 50,000-square-foot building. The new structure utilizes innovative, environmentally sustainable architecture and infrastructural practices, including recycled building materials, a passive air handling system, photovoltaic panels, water-saving devices, natural daylighting and convection cooling. The New Children’s Museum is one of the first green museums in California.

Fred Maas, president and CEO of Black Mountain Ranch LLC (BMR), earned the Smart Growth Champion Award. Maas has led development of the master-planned community of Del Sur, situated on 1,800 acres of long-vacant farmland in north San Diego. It is the final phase of the 4,600-acre Black Mountain Ranch property, which his group purchased in 1988. Under Maas’ stewardship, Del Sur is evolving into a San Diegolandmark as an environmental asset. Del Sur also is home to the Ranch House, an environmental education resource center open to the public and San Diego’s only LEED Platinum-certified building.

The smart growth awards jury included Teddy Cruz, Teddy Cruz Estudio; Graham Downes, GDA; Carolina Gregor, SANDAG; Sherm Harmer, Urban Housing Partners; Patricia Peterson, Colegio de Arquitectos de Tijuana  A.C.; Allison Rolfe, Pacifica Companies; and Javier Torres Alscalá, Universidad Iberoamericana Tijuana.

The Urban Land Institute develops leaders in the responsible use of land and promotes creation of sustainable, thriving communities worldwide.  ULI has 40,000 members internationally and 845 in the San Diego region.  The ULI San Diego/Tijuana facilitates local discussion of public policy issues and best practices related to real estate development, city building and land use.