4 Greater China Projects Reach Finals of ULI Awards for Excellence

Four out of twenty-two projects qualifying for the final round in an annual competition for the world’s finest real estate developments come from Greater China, with the mainland ranking behind only the US in the contest conducted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Among the Chinese projects qualifying were Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land’s Taikoo Li project in Chengdu, Henderson Land Development and Hip Shing Hong’s Global Trade Square in Hong Kong, Kerry Properties Jing An Kerry Centre in Shanghai, and the Knowledge and Shui On Land’s Innovation Community (KIC) development, also in Shanghai.

The ULI, which has organised the competition since 1979, said that the finalists qualified on the basis of excellence in design, constructions, economics, planning and management of the projects.

Shanghai, London and Paris Lead the Way

Sorting the finalists by city, Shanghai, London and Paris were the only cities to place two projects among the top 22, although San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Clara from California’s Bay Area all scored at least one mention on the list. (The complete set of finalists is available here).

Here’s the details on the Greater China projects, including the companies that developed, designed, and operate them.

Project Name	Location	Developer(s)	Designer
Taikoo Li Chengdu	Chengdu, Sichuan, China	Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land	The Oval Partnership
Global Trade Square	Hong Kong, China	Henderson Land Development and Hip Shing Hong	Lu Tang Lai Architect
Jing An Kerry Centre	Shanghai, China	Kerry Properties	Kohn Pedersen Fox
Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC)	Shanghai, China	Shui On Land	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

In addition to the four projects in Greater China that landed slots in the finals, CapitaMalls Trust’s Plaza Singapura in Singapore, and Sinarmas Land’s The Breeze BSD City, Tangerang City of Banten Province in Indonesia were the only other Asian projects to make the list.

Winners to Be Announced in October

Besides the six Asian projects advancing in the competition, five developments from Europe and 11 from North America qualified as finalists. The program, open to the entire industry, is viewed by the ULI as the centrepiece of its efforts to identify and promote best practices in real estate development.

“This year’s finalists were selected from an impressive group of international submissions that have each added value to their larger community,” said jury chair Michael Covarrubias, chairman and chief executive officer of TMG Partners in San Francisco, California. “This diverse group of projects illustrates how the intersection of financial feasibility, design, and a vision for comprehensive development define essential qualities of life in the neighborhoods and areas they serve.”

In the next stage of the competition, the finalists will be reviewed by an international jury of ULI members representing a multidisciplinary collection of real estate development expertise, including finance, land planning, development, public affairs, design, and other professional services.

Winners will be announced at the ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco this coming October.