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U. of Maryland Team Wins Urban Land Institute Hines Competition for Second Year Running05-01-15 | News

U. of Maryland Team Wins Urban Land Institute Hines Competition for Second Year Running

Daniel Moreno-Holt of the University of Maryland presents "The Crossing," the winning team's urban neighborhood design for the 2015 ULI Hines Competition in New Orleans.
Photo: Urban Land Institute

The University of Maryland team's master plan proposal to transforms the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in downtown New Orleans has taken top honors in the 2015 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Hines Competition. Maryland edged out two teams from Harvard University, and a joint team representing the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The University of Maryland student team received $50,000; the three finalist teams received $10,000.

The competition challenged the teams to devise a comprehensive design and development program for parts of the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in New Orleans, just west of the French Quarter.

The competition aimed to simulate a real urban design and development scenario, albeit a hypothetical construct in which community residents, land owners, businesses in the area bound by the upcoming Lafitte Greenway, the eastern edge of the new Medical District, and crossed by the elevated I-10 highway, came together to create the fictional North Claiborne Neighborhood Improvement Association (NCNIA).

"The four student teams' final proposals all made innovative yet financially realistic master plans for helping revive a historic downtown area ripe with market potential," said Jury Chairman J. Michael Pitchford, president and chief executive officer at CPDC in Silver Spring, Maryland. Note: CPDC is nonprofit affordable housing real estate developer.

The University of Maryland's "The Crossing" proposal fosters growth by engaging the nearby medical campuses and greenway, developing a high-quality main street on Derbigny and phasing in affordable housing. The master plan also addresses improving the storm water infrastructure, and proposes bus rapid transit works to improve accessibility. A ramp relocation and redesign of Basin Street unify the Lafitte Greenway and Louis Armstrong Park.

The other finalist teams and their development schemes:

Harvard University: "Claiborne Grove" recalls the landscape that once characterized North Claiborne Avenue, and creates an energetic new residential and cultural center for all age groups.

Harvard University: "Trem????(R)???(C) 2.0" continues the Trem????(R)???(C) neighborhood's tradition of city trendsetter by introducing three themed corridors, woven together by multilayered walkways.

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and University of Wisconsin, Madison: "Quartier Vert" weaves together culturally rich neighborhoods.

This year, 120 teams comprising 600 students from 60 universities participated in the first round of the competition. The competition is open to graduate students who are pursuing real estate-related studies at universities in North America. The competition is designed as an exercise, with no intention that the students' plans will be implemented as part of any revitalization of the site. For more information on the competition, visit: https://uli.org/hines.