Urban Land Awards First Annual J.C Nichols Prize

KANSAS CITY, MO-Joseph P. Riley, Jr., mayor of Charleston, SC, was honored this weekat a luncheon at the Farimont at the Plaza hotel for being the firstrecipient of the Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for VisionaryUrban Development.

The prize is given in memory of Jesse Clyde Nichols, a legendarydeveloper in Kansas City and a founding member of the Urban LandInstitute. Nichols created the Country Club Plaza, the country’s firstoutdoor shopping district and scores of neighborhoods to the south andwest.

To be an annual presentation, the $100,000 prize was established at thefirst of this year to recognize a person whose careeer demonstratescommitment to the highest standards of responsible development. It isfunded by an endowment from the Nichols family.

Riley was elected mayor of Charleston in 1975 and has since revitalizedthe downtown district, created a waterfront park, increased the supplyof affordable housing and brought world-wide attention to the annualSpoleto Festival U.S.A., an arts festival.