“This year’s Larson Awards finalists are excellent examples of leadership in addressing one of the most pressing issues faced by our communities – an issue that could undermine their ability to grow and thrive in the decades ahead.”
J. Ronald Terwilliger, Terwilliger Center Founder and Chairman
About the Award
The Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Awards, named in honor of a former ULI trustee and ULI Foundation chairman, recognize exemplary state and local policy efforts in support of affordable and workforce housing.
States and localities can undertake a broad range of policy and administrative initiatives to support housing affordability. These can take the form of regulatory or administrative changes such as higher densities and waivers of fees, or programs that provide grants or financing assistance.
The Robert C. Larson Awards recognize innovative state and local policy initiatives that support the creation and preservation of affordable and workforce housing, specifically housing affordable to households earning at or below 120 percent of area median income (AMI). Learn more about the previous winners and finalists.
2018 Award Winners
The 2018 Robert C. Larson award winners were announced during ULI’s Fall Meeting. Congratulations to this year’s winners:
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro Affordable Transit Connected Housing Program. LA Metro has leveraged the land above their transit lines for affordable housing. In order to assist in this effort, the agency created the Metro Affordable Transit Connected Housing Program (or MATCH), a public-private lending partnership that seeks to preserve affordable housing near new and existing nodes of transportation. Metro also utilizes a Joint Development Agreement, which takes advantage of Metro’s ground lease policy. This program has helped create more than 700 affordable housing units, with nearly 1,000 additional units planned.
- State of New York Mortgage Finance Agency’s Community Restoration Fund. The Community Restoration Fund (CRF) purchases mortgages on properties believed to be occupied and assists the homeowners by connecting them with nonprofit advocates, who in turn assist them with restructuring their debt. To date, the agency has purchased 570 mortgages in an effort to assist homeowners and stop property abandonment, while leveraging more than $112 million in private funds to help in the effort.