The Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Awards recognize exemplary state and local programs, policies, and practices that support the production, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable and workforce housing. Learn more about the  previous winners and finalists by clicking on the links below.

2024 Winner

The Terwilliger Center is pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award! The winner is:

• State of Florida, Live Local Act | Florida’s Live Local Act, made effective in July 2023, represents the largest investment in housing in the state’s history. Created to incentivize the production of affordable housing, the Live Local Act streamlines approval processes for developers by mandating that local governments approve multifamily and mixed-use residential developments in commercial, industrial, and mixed-use zones as long as 40 percent of the units are designated affordable. The act also incentivizes production by pre-empting local zoning laws, thus providing a dedicated source of funding, as well as state and local tax incentives for developers to construct affordable housing.

2023 Winner

The Terwilliger Center is pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award! The winner is:

• City of Tallahassee, Florida | The City of Tallahassee’s Affordable Housing Development Policies, facilitated by its Department of Housing and Community Resilience, prioritizes efforts that support the construction of new affordable housing units while also focusing on rehabilitating and enhancing existing housing inventory. The City has a catalog of options and partnerships that incentivize developers to bring housing projects across the affordability spectrum to Tallahassee. These tools provide broad spectrum reach and help stretch public dollars, creating a more sustainable, long-term affordable housing environment.

2022 Winners

The Terwilliger Center is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Awards! The winners are:

• The City of San Diego Planning Department. The City of San Diego enacted its Affordable Homes Bonus Program in 2016, which substantially increased the production of both market-rate and deed-restricted affordable homes. The program builds upon the California Density Bonus Law and allows developers to build more homes if they agree to set aside a subset of a new project as affordable.
• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. In June 2021, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Amazon announced a commitment to create 1,000 units of affordable housing at Metro stations within the Washington metro area by 2025. The first two loans from Amazon were announced in March 2022 and will fund construction of 742 units of affordable housing at the College Park and New Carrollton Metro stations. That housing will be complete in 2024.

2022 Finalists

• The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority

2021 Winners

The Terwilliger Center is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Robert C Larson Housing Policy Leadership Awards. The winners are:

• Alexandria, Virginia, Office of Housing and Department of Planning and Zoning. In 2019, Alexandria amended its zoning ordinance as a result of a comprehensive and culturally inclusive community planning and engagement process. The residential multifamily (RMF) zone provides a substantial density incentive to induce landowners to preserve or produce affordable housing. The RMF zone was developed pursuant to the 2018 South Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy, a community planning process undertaken to identify potential tools, strategies, and resources for the preservation of 215 existing units of deeply affordable housing at risk of being lost to market pressures. The RMF zone allows substantial new density so the owner can develop three to five market-rate units to subsidize every deeply affordable unit provided. In addition, the zone requires assistance and protections for existing residents who are temporarily relocated—including a right to return when the new development is complete—so that redevelopment can occur.
• Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development Department. Minneapolis Homes was created in response to a City Council directive in 2015 to incentivize housing development on city-owned vacant land. The program began with four strategies: 1) provide a homebuyer incentive to build new homes on vacant lots; 2) promote mixed-income neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis by creating a long-term affordability homebuyer financing tool; 3) build new homes on city-owned vacant lots by providing value gap development assistance; and 4) invest land-sale proceeds to further program goals. To meet city climate goals, sustainable building requirements and incentives were added for Minneapolis Homes–funded projects. Minneapolis Homes was originally a single-family new construction program; now the program provides funding for one- to 20-unit construction in alignment of 2040 Comprehensive Plan goals. And finally, in 2020, the program introduced funding targeting a reduction in displacement.

2020 Winner

The Terwilliger Center is pleased to announce the 2020 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award Winner. Congratulations to the Town of Vail/Vail Local Housing Authority’s Vail InDEED program.

To learn more about the winners of this year’s Housing Awards, please check out our 2020 Housing Awards video.

2020 Finalists:

• Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s Community Technical Assistance program
• Houston, Texas, Housing and Community Development Department’s Multifamily Program Equitable Distribution Policy
• City of Tempe, Arizona, Human Services – Housing Services Department’s Affordable and Workforce Housing Strategies

2019 Winners

The winners of the 2019 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award were announced at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Washington, DC.

• Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s Land + Credit = Workforce Homeownership Program
• New York City Housing Development Corporation’s Mitchell-Lama Reinvestment Program

2018 Winners

The 2018 Robert C. Larson award winners were announced during ULI’s Fall Meeting. Congratulations to the 2018 winners:

• Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro Affordable Transit Connected Housing Program
• State of New York Mortgage Finance Agency’s Community Restoration Fund

2018 Finalists

• New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s Mixed-Income Reserve
• New York City Housing Development Corporation’s Mixed-Middle Income Program

2017 Winner

• Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development

2017 Finalists

• Boston, Massachusetts: Department of Neighborhood Development
• Denver, Colorado: Office of Economic Development, Housing Development Division
• New York, New York: Housing Development Corporation

2016 Winner

• Chicago’s Troubled Buildings Initiative

2016 Finalists

• Arlington County, Virginia
• State of Iowa
• City of New York, New York

2015 Winners

• Palm Beach County Workforce Housing Program (WHP)
• Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s (CHFA) Small Multifamily Rental Development Strategy

• 2014 Winners and Finalists
• 2013 Winners
• 2012 Winners
• 2011 Winner

CONTACT US

For more information, email [email protected].