Native landscaping surrounds the pool area at Eco Modern Flats in Fayetteville.

Staff photo

Fayetteville’s Eco Modern Flats continues to add accolades to its growing list of honors since opening in 2011.

The 96-unit apartment complex at 130 S. Hill Ave., near the University of Arkansas campus, was named one of 27 finalists in the Urban Land Institute’s 35th annual Global Awards for Excellence competition.

The competition honors real estate projects that achieve a high standard of excellence in design, construction, economics, planning and management. Other finalists include projects in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Copenhaghen, Hong Kong and Seoul, South Korea. A smaller group of winners will be announced in November during the institute’s fall meeting in Chicago.

Staff photo

Eco Modern Flats was the creation of Fayetteville architects Modus Studio and developers Specialized Real Estate Group, the same team behind the Sterling Frisco and West Center apartment projects. It transformed the 40-year-old aging Glendale Apartments into a sustainable living community utilizing solar hot water, native landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and dozens of energy-efficient building materials.

The project was awarded a LEED Platinum certification, the highest recognition awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council for green building and design. It was the first LEED-certified multi-family development in the state.

Other recent honors include two awards from the National Apartment Association, which named Eco Modern Flats as the “Best Community, less than five years (under 150 units)” and “Best Community, green housing” during an expo in San Diego last Saturday.

The project also won the 2012 LEED for Homes Award for Outstanding Multifamily Project during the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo awards in November.