By Dan Novak, Contributing Writer, University of Maryland Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development Newsletter

An interdisciplinary team of graduate students from the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation landed one of four final slots in the sixth annual HUD Innovation in Affordable Housing (IAH) Student Design and Planning Competition. After beating out over 70 teams from some of the most prestigious graduate programs in the United States, UMD will go head-to-head against University of California-Berkley, Yale University and Virginia Polytechnic and State University on April 17, at HUD’s Washington, D.C., office to defend its winning title. UMD has reached the final four each year it has participated in the competition since 2016, winning second place in 2016 and first place last year.

“We are delighted to have made the final four in the three times that we have participated in this very prestigious competition,” said Maria Day-Marshall, Director of UMD’s Real Estate Development Program. “I believe our success is reflected in the interdisciplinary nature of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and the quality of work of our students.”

On Team Maryland is team leader Kyle Huck (M.ARCH, MRED); Casey Huntington (M.ARCH, MRED);Lauren Stamm (M.C.P.); Andrew Mazer (M.ARCH); and Nyasha Mandima (MRED). Day-Marshall and Bonstra/Haresign’s Rob McClennan, AIA, are the team’s advisors.

The HUD IAH challenges interdisciplinary, graduate-level teams to address social, economic and environmental issues surrounding a real-world housing problem in the United States by developing innovative and original solutions through development, design and finance. The competition is guided by the philosophy that ideas and innovations from the next generation of professionals are essential in tackling affordable and sustainable housing.

This year, teams are designing a development on a new 2.58-acre site adjacent to the famous River Walk near downtown San Antonio. The San Antonio Housing Authority would like to add to its public housing communities by building approximately 100 new mixed-income workforce dwellings along with commercial mixed-used space and amenities. Teams were asked to maximize diversity in their designs-diversity of uses, diversity of incomes and diversity of unit sizes. The first round of the competition required schematics and a preliminary pro forma.

“Our team is thrilled to be able to continue to participate as finalists,” Huck said. “We have invested significant time and effort into crafting a unique proposal to respond to the site’s specific needs. It has been a great opportunity for us to work in an interdisciplinary environment and we look forward to continuing to improve our design.”

The teams will refine their projects and produce more detail in the weeks leading up to the competition, aided by a site visit in early March. The first place team is awarded $20,000. To learn more about HUD’s IAH competition, visit their website.