Austin Community College District’s (ACC) Highland Campus Building 2000 won the prestigious Best Project Innovation award at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2022 Impact Awards. Highland Campus Phase 2 was recognized for its originality and creativity in development.

Check out the full video of the honor.

ACC Highland Campus Phase 2 beat out 13 other nominees for the Best Project Innovation. The other three finalists were Indeed Tower, The Pitch, and Waterloo Park. ACC Highland Campus Phase 2 was selected based on originality and creativity in development. 

According to ULI, the annual Impact Awards recognize and celebrate projects and people throughout Greater Austin that exemplify its that mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.

Eligible projects must include at least one of the following:

• Resourceful use of land or successful adaptive reuse of the property.
• Sustainability, preservation, or enhancement of environmental resources.
• Entrepreneurship or creative development team organization and management.
• Cutting-edge design and planning features.

ACC Highland Phase 2 serves as a national model of highly sustainable (LEED Gold) adaptive reuse for the dying malls across the country. The campus was awarded LEED Gold Certification for its sustainable design. 

The first phase of the ACC Highland Project, Building 1000, was a redevelopment of the former JCPenney store at Highland Mall. It also won a ULI Impact Award in 2015 for innovation.