Eric Komppa Awarded Honorable Mention at ULI Competition

Collaborating with three graduate students from MIT and one from Harvard, UW-Madison Real Estate MBA student Eric Komppa’s team received the coveted award of “Honorable Mention” at the sixth annual Urban Land Institute (ULI) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition.

The competition included 103 teams from 36 universities across the United States and Canada. Komppa’s project was selected as one of the top-seven best urban design and financial feasibility strategies.

Each participating team was given two weeks to complete a daunting task –  to submit a proposal that illustrated innovative ways to incorporate important elements of sustainable communities into a real-life site.  This included components ranging from mixed-income housing to environmental preservation and financial feasibility.

Komppa traveled to Boston to join his teammates for a brainstorming session on how to complete the master plan. While in Boston, they collectively developed the theme of project and determined how to incorporate bottom-line sustainability into their 20 acre development site in Dallas.

“It was a phenomenal learning opportunity because the project simulated a real-world working environment. Mitigating the geographical and disciplinary differences among the members of our group was tough, but it was also very beneficial learning how to communicate effectively.”

Komppa also emphasizes the opportunity to have his father, Mike Komppa (a Graaskamp Center board member and alum), serve as the team’s advisor as especially helpful.  By sharing his wealth of knowledge from many years in the real estate industry, his father was a mentor to the group by advising them what was practical and what was not.  

Although the fast-paced atmosphere and tight deadline during the competition “caused a little heart burn and late nights,” Komppa asserts that it was all worth it.

“The competition was a great, risk-free way to learn how to incorporate the idea of triple bottom-line sustainability and we were able to be creative with the way   transit and community interacted. Leveraging knowledge that I gained at UW-Madison truly helped propel our group forward.”