Austin Community College District (ACC) Highland Campus Building 2000 is recognized with the prestigious Community Impact Award at the Austin Business Journal’s 2023 Commercial Real Estate Awards Gala. 

The annual awards recognize projects that exhibit the best practices in building and development and have the biggest impact on the Central Texas community. More than 30 buildings were nominated including Building 2000 of the ACC Highland project. 

Check out the video from Austin Business Journal and Narrative Edge below.

ACC’s Highland Campus serves as a national model for repurposing old buildings and former malls and is transforming learning spaces in higher education.

ACC began purchasing Highland Mall in 2011. At that time, the mall had fallen into a deep decline and sat mostly vacant. In 2014, the college opened phase 1 of the renovation project. Now known as Building 1000, the first phase of the campus transformed the former JC Penny into a state-of-the-art college campus. The building featured the college’s first ACCelerator learning lab. That same year, ACC voters approved a general obligation bond to renovate the majority of the remaining interior spaces at the historic mall. The college began the build-out of the second phase in 2015. Highland Campus, Building 2000, officially opened in April 2022. 

This portion is home to more than a dozen programs, with targeted training spaces for high-demand careers, including Manufacturing, Health Sciences, Radio-Television-Film, Music, Photography, Culinary Arts, and more. The space encourages collaboration and innovation by blending a broad variety of programs and partnerships.

Worldwide Recognition

Highland Campus has received international recognition for its innovation. 

  • Both Buildings 1000 and 2000 were awarded international recognition, receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
  • The Campus Technology magazine’s Innovator Award and Design Award of Excellence from The American Institute of Architects-Austin for architectural excellence.
  • The prestigious Best Project Innovation Award at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2022 Impact Awards.
  • The Stars of Distinction for Excellence by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).
  • The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) for the 2022-23 Exhibit of School Architecture. 

ACC partners recognized for the award include:

Primary general contractor: Flintco
Primary architect: Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects with Perkins + Will
Primary MEP: Shah Smith & Associates
Primary landscape architect: Coleman & Associates
Primary interior designers: Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects with Perkins&Will
Primary civil engineer: MWM DesignGroup
Primary structural engineer: Datum Engineers Inc.