The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced the recipients of this year’s ULI UK Leadership Awards, which recognise the exceptional contributions of individuals to the industry that exemplify the Institute’s spirit and mission. This year’s winners are:

• Jim Eyre, OBE, co-founder and director of architects WilkinsonEyre, who has won the Outstanding Contribution to Real Estate Award
• Adina David, executive director at MGT Investment Management, who won the Emerging Talent Award

The awards were announced last night during a gala ceremony at the Imperial War Museum in London, held in support of ULI’s UrbanPlan initiative, a schools-based educational programme that aims to help young people understand the role real estate plays in reviving and regenerating urban areas.

Mark Collins, ULI UK Chair and Executive Director and Chairman of Residential at CBRE, said, “Huge congratulations to our two remarkable Leadership Awards winners, whose impactful contributions to the built environment in the UK are remarkable. They are also both true exemplars for everything that ULI represents in its mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformational impact.”

The Outstanding Contribution to Real Estate Award celebrates a leader whose career achievements exemplify personal and professional contributions to the industry. During his distinguished career, Jim Eyre has led on many of Wilkinson Eyre’s celebrated projects, including the RIBA Stirling Prize winning Millennium Bridge at Gateshead, the redevelopment of the Grade II listed Weston Library in Oxford, and most recently the restoration and repurposing of the Grade II listed Battersea Power Station and the new Compton and Edrich stands at Lord’s Cricket Ground. He was awarded an OBE for services to architecture in 2003 and was made Honorary Doctor of Laws at Liverpool University in 2009. He is currently a Commissioner to the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and a Chair of the Architectural Association Foundation.

Jim Eyre comments, “I am fortunate to have been involved in so many extraordinary projects in my professional life and am humbled by the recognition given by this award, really only possible because of the great team we have at Wilkinson Eyre.”

The Emerging Talent Award celebrates the professional, personal, and civic commitments to the real estate industry in the UK by someone with 15 years or less of industry experience. A stalwart of the UK’s build-to-rent sector, with prior roles including director of urban living at Greystar, and vice president of investments at The Collective, Adina David is part of the team responsible for MGT Investment Management’s £1.4bn residential portfolio, leading the business’s rental living strategy. During her career, she has had extensive experience working across different living real estate asset classes including on their financing, design, development, and operation. She is also a champion of diversity and inclusion and founder of the networking and mentorship group Ladies in Real Estate. Finally, with ULI, David has played a prominent role in promoting emerging living real estate sectors.

Adina David comments, “I first joined the ULI in New York while I was studying for my master’s degree at NYU and working on the sell side, over 10 years ago. I immediately saw value in the ability to connect with so many impressive professionals in the built environment. Membership was invaluable when I relocated to London in 2016 and was able to meet peers, find mentors, and start to share best practices via the Residential Council. Over the last decade as a member, I’ve enjoyed supporting and organising various programmes across the living space. To receive the Emerging Talent award from the ULI is a real honour and I hope I can continue to add value to the organisation and the wider industry as I continue my career journey.”

Nominations for the awards were received from ULI members including from the ULI UK Executive Committee and ULI UK Young Leaders Committee. The ULI UK Leadership Awards judging panel determined the winners following an exhaustive evaluation process. ULI panel, which was composed of UK real estate leaders from across the built environment, was chaired by Yohance Harper, Quadrant Estates, and included: Mark Collins, CBRE and ULI UK Chairman; Anne Kavanagh, Telford Homes; Megan Walters, Pimco; Alex Jezeph, TfL; and Ben Collins, ULI UK Executive Director.

Yohance Harper, ULI UK Leadership Awards Chair, comments, “I am immensely proud of this year’s winners, whose extraordinary contributions continue to inspire and shape our industry. This awards ceremony is not just a celebration of individual achievements but a testament to the collaborative spirit and forward-thinking ethos we strive for in the real estate sector. It reflects the shared commitment to innovation, sustainability, and community that drives us at ULI.”

Profits from the ULI UK Leadership Awards go directly to supporting UrbanPlan. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, UrbanPlan is a school-based educational programme to help young people understand the role real estate plays in reviving and regenerating urban areas using interactive workshops and team challenges. By engaging students from diverse social and economic backgrounds, UrbanPlan strives to reach groups traditionally underrepresented in the property industry, seeking to bring urban studies to life, raise aspirations and promote careers in the built environment. To date, UrbanPlan has taken the programme to 50 schools across the UK over three tours.

In lieu of presenting physical awards, ULI will work with a conservation charity to plant a tree on behalf of each winner in the school grounds of their choice.

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For further information, contact Tony Nokling

Notes to Editors:

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.

ULI UK is the largest ULI National Council in Europe with over 1,300 members from the private and public sectors representing all disciplines within the UK commercial and residential property market.

For more information on ULI UK, visit https://uk.uli.org/

For more information on UrbanPlan, visit https://europe.uli.org/programmes/urbanplan/