On April 29th, ULI Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University partnered for a program that featured The KC Knot Team, a ULI Hines Student Competition Honorable Mention.  The ULI Hines Student Competition—entering its 19th year in 2021—offers graduate students the opportunity to form their own multidisciplinary teams and engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. Teams of five students pursuing degrees in at least three different disciplines have two weeks to devise a development program for a real, large-scale site in a North American city. Teams provide graphic boards and narratives of their proposals, including designs and market-feasible financial data.

The competition site was the Dowtown Loop or East Village section of Kansas City, Missouri.  The area is roughly 8 city blocks or 16 acres that currently contains surface parking with very little residential development.  The team’s vision was for a mixed-use, mixed-income, livable neighborhood for everyone.

It was noted that the KC Knot Team was one of the presentations that incorporated an understanding of Kansas City and the complexity of its stakeholders and history.  Diana Reid, Jury Member, expressed that the jury admired the team’s long-term vision addressing the “old Kansas City” and the “racial divide”. She also said that the team had bold and realistic financials.

To view the program and its entirety, please click below.