SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 7, 2015---St. Joseph’s Campus by BRIDGE Housing has been honored with a 2015 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Award for Excellence, widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious award programs. BRIDGE is a leading nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing.This year’s 10 winners—five in North America, three in Europe, and two in Asia—were honored at the ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco. St. Joseph’s is the only awardee located in California.
Situated in the heart of Oakland’s Fruitvale District, the campus comprises St. Joseph’s Senior Apartments and Terraza Palmera at St. Joseph’s, which together form a unique, mixed-use community. An underused 1912 historic landmark was leveraged to develop the first phase, providing 84 affordable apartments for low-income seniors and 3,200 square feet of commercial space. Terraza Palmera at St. Joseph’s, the second phase, provides 62 affordable family rental homes—four in rehabilitated structures that were part of the original site and 58 in a newly constructed building designed to complement the historic elements.
According to ULI, St. Joseph’s demonstrates how a public/private partnership can be used to leverage funding for preserving a historic site in a distressed neighborhood and converting it into affordable rental housing while retaining funding for the project through an economic downturn.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Cynthia A. Parker, President and CEO of BRIDGE Housing. “St. Joseph’s was a labor of love that took many years and 21 sources of financing across both phases. More importantly, the development preserved an important historic landmark in Oakland and provides multigenerational homes as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.”
“Each of this year’s finalists and winners demonstrate how innovation and design intersect with development performance,” said Jury Chair Michael Covarrubias, Chairman and CEO of TMG Partners in San Francisco. “The diversity of these projects is a reflection of the land use industry’s interdisciplinary nature, illustrating the variety of ways to stabilize a neighborhood, improve the streetscape, and create meaningful experiences for communities worldwide.”
The architect for St. Joseph’s Campus was Van Meter Williams Pollack, the landscape architect was GLS and environmental graphics were designed by Argus.
The ULI Global Awards for Excellence competition, now in its 37th year, recognizes real estate projects that achieve a high standard of excellence in design, construction, economics, planning, and management. In addition to BRIDGE, the other 2015 awardees included:
12th Avenue Arts, Seattle, Washington (Developer: Capitol Hill Housing; Designer: SMR Architects)
Beaugrenelle, Paris, Ile de France, France (Developers: APSYS, SemPariSeine; Designer: Valode & Pistre Architects)
City Market at O, Washington DC (Developer: Roadside Development; Designer: Shalom Baranes Associates et al)
Denver Union Station, Denver, Colorado (Developer: Union Station Neighborhood Company [an equal partnership between East West Partners and Continuum Partners], Trammell Crow Company, and Union Station Alliance; Designer: AECOM, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Hargreaves Associates)
Devon Energy Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, (Developer: Devon World Headquarters LLC; Designer: Pickard Chilton)
Jing An Kerry Centre, Puxi District, Shanghai, China (Developer: Kerry Properties; Designer: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates)
King's Cross Station, London, United Kingdom (Developer: Network Rail; Designers: McAslan & Partners)
Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China (Developer: Swire Properties & Sino-Ocean Land; Designer: The Oval partnership Ltd)
Swedbank Headquarters, Sundbyberg, Stockholm, Sweden (Developer: Humlegården Fastigheter AB; Designer: 3XN)
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About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 36,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.