NEW YORK CITY-Honoring excellence in construction, design and development, the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing has recognized two multifamily buildings in Harlem and Brooklyn at an awards gala in Washington, DC on Wednesday evening. Columbia Hicks LLC’s and L+M Development Partners’ six-story Columbia Hicks complex in Cobble Hill and Jonathan Rose Cos. and Lettire Construction’s mixed-income Tapestry project in East Harlem were among the winners of the 2011 Jack Kemp Models of Excellence Awards.

The event, held in memory of Jack Kemp, the late HUD secretary and member of US Congress, honors workforce housing developments that involve innovate financing, strong public/private partnerships, unique construction and affordability. Four sites out of 27 submissions were chosen on a nationwide-basis.

“The one thing that distinguishes them a little bit more from years before is more emphasis on design,” says Richard M. Rosan, president of the ULI Foundation, who toured each site and interviewed all stakeholders involved. “They are fantastic because they have been able to use various ways of making the projects work financially so they can create new workforce housing,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “And they are complicated deals, each one of them.”