URBAN LAND INSTITUTE STRIP DISTRICT COMPETITION

One of the largest remaining and underutilized brownfield commercial properties in Pittsburgh’s ‘Strip District’ was chosen as the site for the second year of ULI’s annual Gerald D. Hines Competition. In the first round, our team was given ten days to create a proposal that balanced innovative design in urbanism, landscape architecture, and architecture with real world financing strategies to create a unique mixed use destination of retail, residential, and commercial environments for the citizens of Pittsburgh. As landscape and urban designer, Kenneth Francis was part of a five member multidisciplinary team whose other backgrounds were in architecture, urban planning, business, and real estate law.

Out of 56 teams that entered, our design team was one of four selected to be a finalist and given thirty days to further develop our ideas for this dynamic, new mixed use district in downtown Pittsburgh. The design team was flown to Pittsburgh to present the project to a jury, community stakeholders, and city officials.