Housing Developments in Houston, Chicago, Honolulu, Washington, D.C., and Haverhill, Massachusetts are Selected as Winners of 2018 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award

BOSTON (October 15, 2018) – (RealEstateRama) — Avenue Place/Avenue Terrace in Houston, Clybourn 1200 in Chicago, Keauhou Lane in Honolulu, Conway Center in Washington, D.C., and Harbor Place Residences in Haverhill, Massachusetts have been selected by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winners of the 2018 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award.

The annual award recognizes best practices in the development of housing that is affordable to people with a broad range of incomes. Developments eligible for the award are those in which all or a portion of the units are affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the median income in the areas in which the projects are located.

The five winning projects, which were chosen by a jury of national housing leaders, were recognized today during the ULI’s 2018 Fall Meeting in Boston. Terwilliger Center Founder and former ULI Chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger chaired the prize jury. “Providing quality affordable housing in urban areas is not getting any easier. I am always struck by the complexity involved in seeing these workforce projects developed,” Terwilliger said. “The Kemp winners are opening up our communities to more people – workers such teachers, nurses, police officers, and firemen who cannot afford to live anywhere near where they work. I am very proud of the committed ‘housers’ who made these developments possible.”

Selection of the winners is based on outstanding achievements in several areas, including affordability, innovative financing and building technologies, proximity to employment centers and transportation hubs, quality of design, involvement of public/private partnerships, and replicability of the development.

Details on the 2018 winners:

• Located on 20 acres of former industrial wasteland in Houston, Avenue Place/Avenue Terrace has been developed into new mixed-income housing, accounting for 287 new households near public transportation, a walking trail and park. The residents now have easy access to a YMCA, public library and recreation center. In addition, the design and materials of the housing incorporate green building practices, promoting health, sustainability and reducing waste.
• The area around Cabrini-Green in Chicago was once notorious, but Clybourn 1200 is tackling the problem with a mixed-income and mixed-use building that provides residents with affordable housing with sustainability and design in mind. The building has been converted to 26 public housing apartments, 26 affordable housing apartments and 32 market rate apartments.

• Haverhill, Massachusetts, is being revived with new investment. Harbor Place Residences has revitalized the waterfront in the downtown of the city. Merrimack Street Ventures, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, and the Greater Haverhill Foundation have turned 65,000 square feet of formerly unused buildings into affordable and mixed-income housing, and created a new boardwalk, allowing people access to the Merrimack River. In addition, it is within walking distance of the Haverhill Commuter Rail Station.
• Keauhou Lane in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a LEED Platinum Certified mixed-use multifamily design recreated out of an historically industrial neighborhood that now consists of 209 workforce housing units. One-fourth of the entire site, which is designed to be pedestrian-friendly, is dedicated to public open space.
• The Conway Center, built by So Others Might Eat (SOME), is a public-private partnership located in DC’s Ward 7. They offer services such as affordable housing, addiction treatment, job training and counseling. SOME has developed 202 units of affordable housing on 58,000 square feet of land, and also has a medical clinic and an employment training center.

ULI established the Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award in 2008 to show the critical role that housing plays in achieving economic prosperity and a high quality of life, both for individuals and communities. The award honors the memory of Jack Kemp, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and a ULI Terwilliger Center national advisory board member.

Finalists for the Kemp Award were: Alvista in Jamaica, New York; Caesura, Brooklyn, New York; Greenwich Park Apartments, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Lakeside, San Leandro, California; Metro Green Terrace, Stamford, Connecticut; The Residences at Government Center, Fairfax, Virginia; and Vivo Apartment Homes, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The jury also recognized the Aspen Skiing Company’s Workforce Housing in Aspen, Colorado with a Chairman’s Award, a special recognition bestowed this year for a creative project designed specifically to address the critical shortage of affordable housing for resort workers in Aspen. While the development did not meet the mixed income criteria of the Kemp Award, the jury felt it deserved recognition. The Aspen Skiing Company’s development involved transforming a 40-year-old campground into a new housing community. Repurposing old shipping containers, the developer created “tiny houses” for their employees to live in while they work onsite. “We were particularly impressed with the ingenuity that went into this project,” Terwilliger noted. “It highlights a particularly innovative solution to the affordable housing crises faced by employers in high-end resort communities.”

In addition to Terwilliger, members of the 2018 Kemp Award jury were George Casey, president and chief executive officer, Stockbridge Associates, Alan George, executive vice president and chief investment officer, Equity Residential, Nina Janopaul, president and chief executive officer, Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, Gadi Kaufmann, managing director and chief executive officer, RCLCO, Dara Kovel, president of development, Beacon Communities, Linda Mandolini, president, Eden Housing, Michael Pitchford, president and chief executive officer, Community Preservation and Development Corporation, and Margaret Wylde, chief executive officer, Pro Matura Group.

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: Courtesy images of the Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award winners and finalists are provided by ULI upon request for use by members of the press.  For more details on the awards and previous winners, visit the Jack Kemp Award webpage.

About the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing

The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing conducts research, performs analysis, provides expert advice, and develops best practice recommendations that reflect the residential land use and development priorities of ULI members in all residential product types, with special attention to workforce and affordable housing. The center was established in 2007 with a gift from longtime ULI member and former ULI chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger.