Eligibility Standards:
- Must be a 501(c)(3) organization.
- Projects must be completed and placed in service between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.
- Homeownership projects must contain at least five (5) units that were sold to families earning 80 percent or less of area median income.
- Rental projects must contain at least 20 units, with at least 80 percent of the units occupied by families earning 80 percent or less of area median income.
- Group home and transitional housing projects are not eligible for award consideration.
- There are no limitations as to the type of ownership structure (i.e. direct-purchase home ownership, cooperative, mutual housing, condominium, lease-purchase, land trust, etc.) or physical structure (i.e. single-family detached, townhouse, mixed-use, etc.).
- Previous national and runner-up winners are ineligible for five (5) years following award receipt.
Award Criteria:
Projects submitted by nonprofit housing developers are evaluated against the following criteria:
- Affordability
- Creativity in addressing local housing needs
- Green building design, construction techniques and products incorporated in the project
- Innovation in financing
- Quality of design
- Replicability
