Hines juror members Anyeley Halova and Gaurav Srivastava review student project boards before making final judging during the competition Thursday, April 3, 2014.

Fifteen years ago, when Anyeley Hallová was studying sustainable agriculture and environmental systems as an undergraduate student at Cornell University, becoming a real estate developer was the farthest thing from her mind. She was committed to restoring the natural environment, a goal she presumed to be at odds with many in the development industry.

Her perspective began to change, however, when she entered the ULI Hines Competition as a graduate student in landscape architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2003. It was the competition’s inaugural year, and the teams were charged with creating a revitalization plan for an underused site near the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. The mixed-income development proposal submitted by Hallová and her teammates was strong on design, but the pro forma was weak, which meant that the team did not make it to the final round of the competition.

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The Hines Competition is supported by the ULI Foundation.