New National Competition Launches to Reduce Affordable Housing Costs through Innovation

To recognize and support the creation of innovative affordable housing developments that address the issue of lowering cost, Deutsche Bank and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) are launching the Lowering the Cost of Housing Competition that will award up to $250,000 in Program Related Investment (PRI) to the winning proposal. Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation is also providing an additional $50,000 in grant funds to be awarded to proposals that show innovation in the area of lowering costs, and demonstrate progress toward this goal or further the best research in this area.

The competition is seeking submissions from multidisciplinary teams that are creating multifamily affordable housing projects that improve neighborhoods and reduce traditional developmental and building costs. UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and Real Estate at Syracuse University School of Architecture is coordinating the national competition.

Proposals are due Tuesday, January 15, 2013. Submissions must be projects that can be completed on or before December 2014. Competition guidelines and materials are available at www.loweringcost.com.

Teams composed of architects, developers and policy professionals are strongly recommended, and entrants are encouraged to develop further creative collaborations that include policy makers, planners, social service providers, academic departments and research institutes. A juried panel of housing design, development, finance and policy professionals will select the winning proposal.

The Lowering the Cost of Housing Competition was envisioned during a recent summit of affordable housing leaders, sponsored by Deutsche Bank and Enterprise. The convening brought together more than 100 real estate developers, design professionals, financial institution representatives and policy experts to catalyze action to drive down costs across the affordable housing industry.