Home buyers and other consumers are the true beneficiaries when Canadian real estate developers and other housing professionals win awards.

Among the most highly-prized peer-recognition awards in the housing world are those presented by the Urban Development Institute (UDI), a non-profit association of development professionals. Its members understand the tremendous marketing power attached to “award winner” designations and, therefore, take UDI’s responsibility to consumers very seriously. By spot-lighting and celebrating sound business practices, ethical marketing and excellence in design and construction, UDI helps to raise standards and encourage innovation among its members, and in the industry at large.

The Urban Development Institute’s Awards for Excellence in Urban Development honour projects that represent superior forms of development by members of the Institute. The Institute’s own values and principles are the standards against which all projects are measured:

“We respect the land, acknowledging it to be distinct and irreplaceable, recognizing that the impact of our developments will last for generations. We strive to create a wider understanding of sound land use and development principles and practices. We value heritage, the power of a place to grow in significance over time. We value development which recognizes economic stability in the larger framework of sustaining the human environment.”

This year’s Awards Program for the British Columbia UDI Pacific Region was also a celebration of the Institute’s 30th Anniversary.

2002 Awards for Excellence in Urban Development

The British Columbia UDI Jury, which included past UDI presidents and representatives of the finance and design professions, presented awards in the following categories to developers for projects that exemplify superior forms of development, innovation in design, overcoming obstacles and demonstrable financial success. The 2002 winners included:

1. Mixed Use Development: A development made up of a combination of two uses including: residential, retail, office, hotel, and industrial components.

Winner: Cressey Development Corporation & Trilogy Properties Corporation for University Market Place.

2. Sustainable Master-Planned Community: A large-scale, predominantly residential development with access to a variety of community services and amenities.

Winner: Marathon Developments Inc. for Harbour Green Neighbourhood

3. Mid/High-rise Multi-Family Development: A residential development with five storeys or more with a central entrance.

Winner: Millennium Group for Lumiere

Low-rise Multi-Family Development: A residential development up to four storeys with a central entrance.

Winner: Polygon Homes Ltd. for Alexandra House at Quilchena Park.

5. Ground-oriented Residential Development: Single-Family: Exemplary detached housing that is part of a comprehensive subdivision development.

Winner: Portrait Homes Ltd. for Autumn Woods at Westwood Plateau.

6. Ground-oriented Residential Development: Multi-Family: Includes any of the following: town houses (row housing, stacked town houses,) or cluster housing (duplexes, triplexes, quads, etc.) with individual entrances from grade.

Winner: Mosaic Homes Ltd. for Redbricks I & II

7. Seniors’ Housing: Congregate housing, assisted living or a care facility that has been designed and developed specifically for the seniors’ market.

Winners: Rainer Adam Muller Management Ltd. for The Summerhill Residences.

8. Non Market Housing: A development created through a partnership between a non profit organization, developer and/or government.

Winner: Townline Homes Inc. & Greater Vancouver Housing Corporation for Claude Douglas Place

9. Livable Region: A development in any of the aforementioned residential and mixed use categories which has made a significant contribution to advancing the Livable Region Strategic Plan objectives of protecting the Green Zone, promoting complete communities, increasing transportation choices, and achieving a compact region.

Winner: Concert Properties Ltd. for Collingwood Village, a community of high-rise and garden-level apartment homes that is recognized as one of Vancouver's largest and most comprehensive urban residential developments.

These award-winning British Columbia projects also met other criteria, including innovations in concept, sensitivity to the environment, construction quality and professionalism and the marketing success of the project. Winning projects also demonstrated relevance to the contemporary and future needs of the community in which they are located. All the projects were started after September 1, 2000 by a member of UDI in good standing and had finished product on display or be in stabilized operation by the entry cut-off date of September 12, 2002.

Congratulations all round.

Published: December 24, 2002

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Futurist and Strategist PJ Wade is "The Catalyst" -- intent on "Challenging The Best Become Even Better." PJ earned this title by translating the dynamic impact of Boomers and their multi-generation families into relevant insights that start people thinking and taking action—in business and in life. Author of 7 books and more than 1600 published articles, PJ encourages individuals to become their own futurist. PJ writes and speaks about the insight, knowledge and solid decision-making skills that professionals and their clients need to live and work in this vortex of change. For instance, since PJ knows that home is headquarters for the new decades-long "unretirement," she wrote the popular book "Reverse Mortgages: Best Friend, Worst Enemy... Your Choice! (CatapultPublishing.com), which is filled with suggestions and insight on protecting and using home equity. Her new business book, "What's Your Point?," which identifies 7 common mistakes professionals unknowingly repeat to their detriment, will be published in 2009. As The Catalyst, PJ provides strategic communication, client appreciation and advanced education services to the financial, tourism, lifestyle and service sectors -- and the clients they serve. A frequently-quoted financial and business commentator, PJ is a thought-provoking strategic speaker who offers practical, real-life suggestions on leaving "the box" behind and embracing Forward Thinking -- a talent she regularly demonstrates in this column. For more on blogs, books and topics, visit TheCatalyst.com.