Plusurbia Design Honored with National Planning Achievement Award

MIAMI – PlusUrbia Design, a boutique urban design and land use planning studio, has been honored with a national award presented by the American Planning Association (APA). PlusUrbia’s Wynwood Neighborhood Revitalization District (NRD) won the prestigious National Planning Achievement Award for Economic Development Planning.

“A small, independent film out of Miami won the Academy Award this year and now a boutique design studio in Miami has won the Oscars of Urban Planning” quipped Juan Mullerat, Director of Coconut Grove-based PlusUrbia.

The City of Miami partnered with PlusUrbia and Akerman law firm to develop a plan to transform Wynwood into a progressive arts community with walkable streets, transit corridors and green space. The Wynwood Business Improvement District hired PlusUrbia to create guidelines, incentives and zoning changes that became the NRD.

The plan spurred more residential development, particularly small, affordable apartments and live-work units that appeal to millennials.

“We’re proud to have engaged PlusUrbia to help create the Wynwood NRD, and congratulate them on this honor,” said Wynwood BID Planning & Zoning Chair David Polinsky. “The results of our collaboration are already shaping Wynwood’s continued evolution for the better.”

The 2017 National Planning Award recipients will be honored during APA’s National Planning Conference in New York on May 8. The recipients of the profession’s highest honor will also be featured in the May 2017 issue of Planning magazine.

The Wynwood Neighborhood Revitalization District is one of 12 APA Achievement Award recipients this year. The award recognizes the economic development program to transform the previously blighted Wynwood into a diverse, 24-hour mixed-use arts and innovation neighborhood. Visit the Wynwood NRD project at:       https://plusurbia.com/project/wynwood-nrd                         

Each year, APA recognizes outstanding efforts in planning and planning leadership through its National Planning Excellence and Achievement Awards. The two-tier awards are selected through a juried process. Excellence recipients are the highest honor and Achievement Awards recognize areas of specialization with the planning profession.

APA’s national awards program, is a proud tradition established more than 50 years ago to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts, and individuals for their leadership on planning issues.

“Good planning is not just preparing the community for the future, but engaging the residents in the discussions and decision-making that will impact their lives,” said W. Shedrick Coleman, AIA, 2017 chair of APA’s Awards Jury.  “This year’s award recipients advanced the planning profession by more thoroughly engaging all residents in the planning process.”

In addition to Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, APA also presented Achievement Awards to the following:

• Gold Best Practice – Urban Development Areas and Technical Assistance Grant Program; Commonwealth of Virginia
• Silver Best Practice – Placemaking for an Aging Population: Guidelines for Senior-Friendly Parks; Los Angeles, California
• Silver Best Practice – Plan 2020: The Bicentennial Plan for Indianapolis; Indianapolis, Indiana
• Silver Best Practice – Historic Fort Ord Regional Urban Design Guidelines; Monterey Bay, California
• Gold Public Outreach – “Game of Floods”; Marin County, California
• Gold Environmental Planning – Colorado Resiliency Framework; Colorado
• Silver Environmental Planning – Millvale Eco-District Pivot Plan; Millvale, Pennsylvania
• Gold Grassroots Initiative – Huerta del Valle Community Garden; Ontario, California
• Gold Transportation Planning – Bicycle Master Plan Stress Map; Montgomery County, Maryland
• Gold Urban Design – Austin Historic Cemeteries Master Plan; Austin, Texas
• Gold Implementation – Arlington County’s Smart Growth Journey; Arlington County, Virginia

For a complete list of all the APA 2017 National Planning Excellence and Achievement Award recipients, visit www.planning.org/awards.