A public company that builds student housing, the chancellor of UNC Charlotte and a NASCAR-themed camp for severely and terminally ill children were recognized Wednesday for their vision and creativity in problem solving as it relates to real estate.

Roughly 200 of the area's top real estate professionals gathered at Carmel Country Club for the Fourth Annual Creative Thinkers Awards, which honor people for cutting-edge decision making, out-of-the-box thinking, and action that results in people thinking differently about a subject.

"We are seeking to find what's going on in the brains of the leaders who are affecting how we think, live and play," said Loren Kennedy, chair of the Carolinas Chapter of The Counselors of Commercial Real Estate, an invitation-only group involved in real estate, which presented the awards.

Victory Junction in Randleman was recognized for its innovative design and engineering. The NASCAR-themed camp caters to children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses, offering them the opportunity to participate in camp activities they might not otherwise be able to do.

For example, children with sickle cell disease usually aren't able to swim because their bodies can go into shock when their body temperature suddenly changes more than 2 percent, said camp president John McKee.

The camp has a pool designed to stay within 2 percent of the ambient temperature, allowing these children to enter a swimming pool, often for the first time in their lives, he said. If the children have a medical problem, there is a warming room, nicknamed "the french fry hut," nearby. Quadriplegics who must use ventilators can go up in a hot-air balloon, and a zip line is designed so it can pick up a child from a wheelchair.

"All barriers have been removed," McKee said. "The facilities let us restore self-confidence in these kids. We restore a little bit of hope in their soul and they can experience all that kids can do."

Stephen Overcash of Overcash Demmitt Architects also was recognized for his work on the campus, which features brightly colored buildings. The camp was founded by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and his wife, Pattie, in honor of their son Adam, a NASCAR driver who died after a crash during a practice run.

Campus Crest Communities of Charlotte received a nod from the Counselors of Real Estate for the new way it approaches developing off-campus student housing. The company, which raised $400 million when it went public in 2010, is among the largest student-housing providers in the country.

Co-founder and chief investment officer Mike Hartnett credited the company's success to how the company controls each aspect of the project, from developing the land, to building the complex, to managing the communities, known as The Grove. Campus Crest encourages its employees and tenants to get involved in the community and volunteer activities.

"The secret sauce is our hands-on hospitality style," Hartnett said.

UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois was praised for overseeing the university's growth, including its new campus uptown, which opened last year.

The school's center city campus sits at Ninth and Brevard streets and was designed to resemble a stack of books.