Another major honor for San Antonio's Pearl complex, as the Urban Land Institute has ranked the Pearl as one of the 13 developments worldwide to receive the ULI's 2017-2018 Global Award for Excellence, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Honored by the ULI are developer Silver Ventures, Designers Lake Flato Architects, Roman and Williams Buidling and Interiors, and Don McDonald and Sprinkle & Co. Architects.
The Pearl, which Silver Ventures CEO Kit Goldsbury created in 2003, rose from what was then an abandoned early 20th Century brewery on distressed Lower Broadway.
Today, as the ULI wrote in its commendation: "Pearl is now home to the third campus of the Culinary Institute of America and 18 chef/proprietor-driven restaurants and bars. A farmers market draws 5,000 to 7,000 people each weekend, and additional programming engages the community year-round. The 146-key Hotel Emma provides old-world comfort within the historic and industrial context of the original brewhouse. The project’s 432 rental residential units have the highest rental and occupancy rates in the city. The retail and office mix reflects a thoughtful selection that has created a uniquely San Antonio experience."
The Pearl has also become a nerve center of the city's growing tech industry, and has turned the Lower Broadway area from one of the most depressed to one of the most vibrant and growing parts of the entire city, with numerous apartments, condos, restaurants, and businesses moving into the area.
“We’re thrilled Pearl is being celebrated as one of the nation and world’s most thoughtful development spaces alongside many other notable urban developments,” said Pearl Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Fauerso. “Over the last decade, Pearl’s vision has always been about revitalizing a neighborhood and growing into a communal gathering space. We thank the amazing partners in our community and the citizenry of San Antonio and South Texas who have brought this neighborhood back to life.”