Winners Announced: 2023 ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Hines, the global real estate investor, developer and property manager, have announced The University of Manchester in the UK as the winning team in the fourth annual ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe.

Six teams were selected for the final to participate in the prestigious student competition for integrated and multidisciplinary urban regeneration. The finalist teams were drawn from a mixture of universities and business schools representing true diversity in terms of geography, professional background and gender: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain; The University of Manchester, United Kingdom; INSEAD, South Korea; UCL, United Kingdom; EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Germany and London School of Economics / London Business School, United Kingdom.

During the final on the 10^th May 2023, the students were tasked with a challenging exercise testing their skills and knowledge of real estate, development, and environment and social sustainability through a practical and rigorous case study based on a social housing project in Berlin. They were assessed by a competition jury of eight senior pan-European real estate leaders, including: Lars Huber, CEO, Hines Europe; Lisette van Doorn, CEO – Europe, ULI; Sir Stuart Lipton, Partner, Lipton Rogers Developments; Brian Moran, Head of Hines in Ireland; Frank Schimrigk, Head of Technology, Gewobag; Nicolas Bearelle, Executive Chairman, Revive; Maureen Mahr von Stasewski, Investment Management expert and Carlo Castelli, Architect and Masterplanner.

The four-strong team from The University of Manchester won the competition due to the best overall approach to the challenge, focusing on a financially viable living scheme delivering on affordable housing, social value, clever use of hard, soft, and public spaces, while respecting local heritage architecture.

The winners of the competition, Aakash Mathur, Hiba Jabbour, Nimrah Maryam and Max Medina, will each receive a fast-track to the Hines internship programme, a guided tour of an existing development project, participation in project meetings in Hines’ European offices, and complimentary access to bespoke in-person opportunities to participate in ULI’s programmes. Each finalist will also receive a one-year ULI membership providing access to research content, events, webinars, education and mentorship programmes, knowledge sharing, and connections with a global network of real estate and land use professionals.

Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said:

“We are incredibly proud of our partnership with the ULI to provide a platform for the next generation of European real estate leaders to flourish. The six finalist teams had a unique opportunity to present to senior industry leaders to exhibit their innovative approaches to a live case study, testing their skills on a range of topical and practical solutions needed in the built environment. At Hines, we are committed to developing emerging talent and The University of Manchester will be awarded a fast-track to our internship programme to further progress their careers. We believe the competition showcases the pioneering attitude of those starting out in the industry and we were impressed with each proposal at this year’s final.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said:

“Many congratulations to our winners, and to all the participants taking part in what has been an exceptional competition with a very high standard of creative thinking applied to some compelling practical solutions. This competition truly provides an encouraging, vivid glimpse into the diverse talent pipeline that is getting ready to enter the real estate industry.”

“It was an honour to be a jury member once again, and I’m very proud of the continued strong interest we’re seeing in the competition. It truly reflects ULI’s mission, to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide, and its format mirrors the urgent need for the wider industry to work collaboratively in addressing the challenges that impact us all. Thank you to Hines for their invaluable and longstanding support. It’s been great to collaborate once again in delivering this exciting initiative.”  

For further information, please visit: https://europe.uli.org/programmes/awards-and-competitions/ulihinesstudentcompetition/