Congrats to The Woodlands master plan, which was the first project to be given the Vision Award for Exemplary Leadership as part of ULI’s 2014 Developments of Distinction. (The Woodlands is the Emil Jannings of real estate... look it up.) The 28,000-acre community now houses 105,000 residents and 52,000 employees. The judges recognized it for going beyond the live-work-play model to add environmental preservation and social consciousness. The Development of Distinction Awards recognized two projects in the for-profit category, BG Group Place and Historic Fire Station No. 6. The former was applauded for redeveloping a blighted Downtown block, and the latter was repurposed into offices in an example of historic adaption done right.

The Don Sanders Adoption Center won the people’s choice award and was a finalist in the non-profit category. (Here you can see a dog filling out some paperwork at the front desk.) It’s developed and owned by Friends for Life and is the only LEED certified animal shelter in Houston (and one of only a handful in the country). The facility is a repurposed warehouse. The non-profit winner is James Berry Elementary School, which was recognized for changing its community. The school sits in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Northeast Houston; since its opening, the community has fixed up housing and cleaned the local park, and the school functions as a neighborhood community center. The new facilities boosted the school from below average to a Magnet School of America’s 2013 Merit School of Distinction.