An applied academic institution at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, Ivory Innovations is dedicated to supporting innovative solutions in housing affordability. They recently announced the final Winners for the 2024 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability. These winners will join the 122 other companies in Ivory Innovations’ network of innovators dedicated to advancing housing affordability.

Without further ado…

Construction and Design

Villa: A homebuilding platform that focuses on building prefab homes in “missing middle” infill locations by partnering with factories to build homes based on Villa’s designs.

Finance

Montgomery County Housing Production Fund: The HPF is a $100 million revolving fund that provides low-cost construction financing for the development of publicly owned, mixed-income housing. The Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) of Montgomery County, Maryland partnered with Montgomery County to create the Housing Production Fund (HPF) in 2021. The HPF is now expected to produce as many as 2,000 new housing units in the county by the end of the decade, of which at least 30% will be affordable.

Public Policy and Regulatory Reform (Co-Winners)

City of San Diego: ADU Bonus program: The City of San Diego has implemented a Bonus Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program that allows for increased density for Affordable ADUs. This incentive has led to the construction of deed restricted ADUs and naturally affordable ADUs throughout the City.

First Repair: A local-to-national approach in the movement for Black reparations where localities nationwide, like Evanston, IL, are prioritizing housing-related redress as a first tangible step to repair the legacies of slavery in the United States.

Congrats to all those selected!