The winners of the inaugural 2025 ICSC Excellence in Community Advancement Awards, honored during ICSC LAS VEGAS, recognize outstanding public-private partnerships that have delivered transformative retail and mixed-use projects. ICSC established the awards to support its Community Advancement initiatives and its commitment to strengthening retail in communities. They spotlight collaborations between municipalities and developers and celebrate projects that drive economic opportunity, enhance community well-being, and create lasting value through forward-thinking strategies.
Eligible projects must have been completed and operational before Nov. 1, 2024, and are recognized in two categories — Redevelopments/Revitalizations and New Developments — across both urban and suburban areas with populations over 50,000, as well as rural communities with populations under 50,000.
In addition, the Innovation in Community honor is a special recognition selected by the judges and the ICSC Community Advancement Advisory Committee. It celebrates a project that offers a particularly creative solution to a community challenge or introduces an innovation that meaningfully enhances community impact. This year the distinction went to the OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark in Oklahoma City, a tribally funded development turning a former brownfield site into a vibrant regional tourism destination.
Learn about this year’s winners, which exemplify how thoughtful development can elevate communities and serve as a catalyst for long-term growth and resilience.
Bell Works Chicagoland
Urban/Suburban Redevelopment
Public Sector Partner: Village of Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Private Sector Partner: Inspired by Somerset Development
The ribbon cutting for the World’s Fair by Fairgrounds café at Bell Works Chicagoland. Photo courtesy of Village of Hoffman Estates
Bell Works Chicagoland transformed a vacant 1.65-million-square-foot former AT&T corporate campus in Hoffman Estates, Illinois into a vibrant “metroburb” that combines modern office spaces with retail, dining and entertainment amenities. Located in suburban Chicago, the Village of Hoffman Estates provided critical regulatory support and established a tax increment financing district, while the developer brought creative vision and capital investment. Demonstrating how thoughtful design and innovative public-private financing can revitalize underutilized corporate assets, key outcomes include 600-plus onsite employees, more than 60 diverse tenants, a 24.6% increase in property value and the creation of a community gathering hub hosting cultural events and public spaces.
Additional Key Stakeholders
- Architect: Wight & Associates (with original building architect Dirk Lohan)
- General Contractor: ML Group
- Leasing Company: Colliers
Nine Mile Corner
Rural New Development
Public Sector Partner: Town of Erie, Colorado
Private Sector Partner: Evergreen Devco, Inc.
Photo courtesy of Evergreen Devco
Nine Mile Corner exemplifies small-town brownfield redevelopment success in Erie, Colorado. The collaboration, which also included the Town of Erie Urban Renewal Authority, transformed a 45-acre site from a blighted property into a thriving retail center anchored by Lowe’s Home Improvement and supermarket chain King Soopers, plus a 287-unit attainable multifamily community. The project utilized a metropolitan district and urban renewal area to issue $17.7 million in tax-exempt public improvement bonds funded by tax increment financing, successfully addressing extraordinary infrastructure costs while delivering critical sales tax revenue and jobs to the community. Named for its location exactly nine miles from Boulder, Colorado, Nine Mile Corner has accelerated development in the area by nearly 20 years, illustrating how strategic public financing can attract significant private investment in smaller communities.
Additional Key Stakeholders
- Architects and Engineers: G3 Architecture and Galloway & Company Engineering (retail center); and Kephart and HKS (multifamily)
- General Contractors: Brinkmann Constructors, Waner Construction and Nexus Builders
- Leasing Company: David, Hicks & Lampert Brokerage
- Finance Company: D.A. Davidson
OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark
Innovation in Community
Public Sector Partner: The City of Oklahoma City
Private Sector Partner: The Chickasaw Nation
Photos courtesy of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
The OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark is a $400 million development in Oklahoma City, located on a former brownfield site along the Oklahoma River. The project features an 11-story, 404-room hotel; a 4.5-acre outdoor waterpark with sandy beaches; a 100,000-square-foot indoor waterpark; multiple food-and-beverage venues; event spaces; and a freestanding entertainment plaza, among other amenities. The Chickasaw Nation provided 100% equity funding while utilizing public financing through tax increment financing, the Oklahoma Enterprise Zone Incentive Leverage Act and federal transit grants. The development is projected to generate an estimated $1.3 billion in economic impact over 10 years, create 400 to 600 permanent jobs and attract approximately 500,000 visitors annually, including more than 50% coming from out of state. The project demonstrates how tribal investment and multitiered public financing can transform environmental challenges into economic opportunities.
Additional Key Stakeholders
- Architect: ADCI Design
- General Contractor: Manhattan Construction Group
- Management Company: Pyramid Global Hospitality
Rusted to Revenue
Rural Redevelopment
Public Sector Partner: City of Hernando, Mississippi
Private Sector Partner: Hernando Town Properties
Photo courtesy of the City of Hernando, Mississippi
The City of Hernando, a community of roughly 20,000, used a $400,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate and promote the redevelopment of a 70-year-old former tractor dealership at the gateway to its historic downtown. The project shows how small municipalities can effectively leverage federal resources to revitalize blighted sites and spur economic growth in legacy areas. The local property owners invested $60,000 in cleanup costs and redeveloped the site into a thriving restaurant and boutique retail destination. Mississippi’s robust brownfield incentives, including tax rebates worth up to 2.5 times remediation costs, helped make the project financially viable. The redevelopment created more than 70 jobs, increased annual property tax revenue from $6,000 to nearly $20,000 and served as a catalyst for further development, including Dunkin’ and Whataburger locations.
Additional Key Stakeholders
- Architect: AERC, PLLC
- General Contractor: PPM Consultants
- Management and Leasing Company: Hernando Town Properties
PGA Frisco
Urban/Suburban New Development
Public Sector Partner: Texas’ Frisco Economic Development Corporation
Private Sector Partner: Robert Rowling/TRT Holdings Inc.
The PGA of America headquarters at PGA Frisco. Photo above and at top courtesy of Frisco Economic Development Corporation
PGA Frisco represents a landmark public-private partnership between the Professional Golfers’ Association of America; Omni Hotels & Resorts; the City of Frisco, Texas; and the Frisco Independent School District. This 660-acre development includes the PGA of America headquarters, two championship golf courses, the 500-room Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa and a retail district. The public entities contributed approximately $35 million plus performance incentives worth an estimated $52 million to $74 million, while private investment totaled more than $500 million. Since opening in May 2023, the project has created over 1,100 jobs and is projected to generate $2.5 billion in economic impact over 20 years. In addition to driving economic growth, PGA Frisco offers educational opportunities for students, opens its golf facilities to the public and hosts major championships. The development has accelerated growth in northern Frisco — part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area — by an estimated 20 years and catalyzed approximately $10 billion in surrounding development, highlighting the powerful multiplier effect of strategic, sports-focused public-private partnerships.
Additional Key Stakeholders
- Architects: Page (PGA headquarters), Gil Hanse and Beau Welling (golf course) and SB Architects, now 10SB (hotel and resort)
- Interior Designer: Jeffrey Beers International (hotel and resort)
- General Contractors: Adolfson & Peterson Construction (PGA headquarters) and Brasfield & Gorrie (hotel and resort)
- Management Company: Omni Hotels & Resorts
- Leasing Company: Monument Realty (retail district)
By Katie Kervin
Managing Editor, Commerce + Communities Today