CNDA report: And the winners are . . .

Carlos Nelson (with his children) won the Norman Bobins Leadership Award.

The best neighborhood development work in Chicago was honored last night at the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards. A reported crowd of 1,400 turned out for the event, which featured a seriously funny show by Second City followed by the awards and the best cocktail party networking event in town, at least for the community development crowd.

And here's who won:

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation received The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Strategy of the Year award.

Center on Halsted, the new home of the Horizons Community Service Center, received The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Real Estate Project.

Chicago GreenWorks received the Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award for the Rancho Verde industrial park built for Christy Webber Landscapes and other landscaping companies.

The St. Leo's Campus for Veterans in Auburn Gresham earned the Special Recognition Award.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design went to:

First Place: Landon Bone Baker Architects for La Casa Norte's Solid Ground Supportive Housing Building in Humboldt Park, a residential and service center for 16 homeless teens.

Second Place: Stanley Tigerman for the new home of Pacific Garden Mission, which can provide food and shelter for 1,000 men and women a day.

Third Place: Murphy/Jahn for Mercy Housing Lakefront's Margot and Harold Schiff Residences, which provides energy-efficient housing for low-income residents.

The Driehaus Awards are now 10 years old, and in a fitting tribute, Richard H. Driehaus himself won the Friend of the Neighborhoods Award.

And last but not least, the new Norman Bobins Leadership Award honoring emerging community development leaders went to Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation.