RAND Gets Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence

The RAND Corporation today received the prestigious Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award for Excellence: The Americas, which recognizes outstanding achievement in land use practice.

The award, widely acknowledged as the land use and development community's top honor, recognizes RAND for its headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif.

Winners are selected on the basis of the development process undertaken to complete their projects, not simply architecture and design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success.

RAND, a nonprofit research organization, was one of 10 recipients of the award presented today at the ULI's Spring Council Forum in Chicago.

“For six decades RAND's research has demonstrated a commitment to quality and innovation, and our headquarters building reflects the vision and stewardship that have been hallmarks of our research,” said RAND President and CEO James A. Thomson. “In addition to supporting RAND's culture and operations, our headquarters advances the visionary redevelopment of the civic center of Santa Monica and demonstrates environmental sustainability.”

“The City Council joins me in congratulating RAND on receiving the ULI award,” said Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. “The award recognizes a significant project that is already contributing in many ways to our city. It also acknowledges the private-public collaboration that is bringing about the exciting redevelopment of our civic center for the benefit of all who live, work and visit here.”

The 2007 winners of the Awards for Excellence: The Americas were selected by a jury of prominent land use, development and design experts from around the United States, led by Lee T. Hanley, chairman and chief executive officer of Vestar Development Co. in Phoenix.

“The Awards for Excellence program celebrates the creativity, vision, and best practices in land use,” Hanley said. “All of these projects represent the best examples of creative land use and planning.”

The 310,000-square-foot RAND headquarters, with a distinctive elliptical shape and beach location, was dedicated in April 2005. It was built next to the original headquarters facility that RAND had occupied since 1953.

The headquarters construction project included a comprehensive cleanup of what had been landfill and surface parking lots, preparing the way for a new residential community and public parks.

Los Angeles-based DMJM Design designed the RAND headquarters, and Turner Construction Co. built it. The $100 million project provides offices, conference facilities and subterranean parking for 1,100 staff, and incorporates high levels of safety and security.

The RAND headquarters project had previously received recognition as a "green building," including: a Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council; CoreNet's Sustainable Project of the Year (Nonprofit); and the City of Santa Monica/Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Quality Award. The project was also recognized for outstanding architectural design by the Los Angeles Business Council.

The ULI Awards for Excellence program was established in 1979. There are separate awards for the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Over the years, all types of projects have been recognized for their excellence, including office, residential, recreational, urban and mixed-use, industrial and office park, commercial and retail, new community, rehabilitation, and public projects and programs.