Hines wins ULI prize.

Gerald D. Hines, founder and chairman of Hines real estate organization, has been selected as the third annual recipient of the Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionary Urban Development.

Hines is widely known as an industry leader who pioneered the use of high-quality architecture as a marketable feature of development, in both signature skyscrapers and multi-faceted communities combining a variety of uses. Over the years, the Hines company has become synonymous with excellence in design, environmental sustainability and business operations.

The Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize recognizes a person whose career demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of responsible development. The $100,000 prize honors the legacy of legendary Kansas City, Missouri, developer J.C. Nichols, a founding Urban Land Institute member who is considered one of America's most influential entrepreneurs in land use during the first half of the 1900s. Hines was presented the prize Oct. 23 during a celebratory luncheon hosted by ULI at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan.

Hines' company, which he founded 45 years ago in Houston, is now one of the world's largest real estate firms, controlling properties around the globe valued at more than $13 billion. He is widely regarded as an industry visionary who raised the bar for commercial real estate in the last half of the 20th century by commissioning top architects to design structures that would leave a distinctive imprint on the skyline.

"For us, there was never a choice between building the mediocre or the magnificent. People expect high quality from us, and providing it has paid off," Hines said. "One building sets a tone, but it's just a starter. We really like to do multiple buildings that create a place. The greatest achievement in development is the development of a community."

Hines was selected to receive the prize by a jury of five renowned urban experts: jury chairman Robert C. Larson, chairman of Lazard Freres Real Estate Investors in New York City and chairman of the ULI Foundation; Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the New Yorker magazine; Peter S. Rummell, chairman and chief executive officer of The St. Joe Company in Jacksonville, Fla.; Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy in Rome, with offices in New York City and Rome; and Joseph E. Brown, president and chief executive officer of EDAW, Inc. in San Francisco.

A key aspect of the prize is its use as a highly visible symbol of the importance of truly visionary community development, Larson explained. "Gerry Hines' personal integrity, his utilization of world-class architects in the design of his properties, and his interest in environmental sustainability made him a compelling choice," Larson said.

By making architecture a valuable commodity, Hines "changed the nature of commercial real estate development more profoundly than anyone," Goldberger said.