Press Release
I. Don Terner Prize Focuses Attention on Affordable Housing
Industry Leaders Declare Local Projects are Models of Success
Berkeley, CA–January 31, 2007–Recognizing successful and innovative affordable housing projects and their leadership teams, the $50,000 inaugural I. Donald Terner Prize is awarded today to Central City Concern and five finalists. Don Terner was a visionary leader in the affordable housing field who tragically lost his life ten years ago in a humanitarian mission to Bosnia. This new biennale prize was created to commemorate his death and inspire projects that best exemplify his spirit and commitment to affordable housing.
The winning project, 8NW8, is a striking 12-story building located in the historic Pearl District of Portland. It provides 180 units of affordable, drug- and alcohol-free housing. Almost 700 formerly homeless residents have lived in the building since it opened in 2004, relying on the beautiful, inspirational environment, on-site services, and supportive community of peers to positively transform their lives. The building has transformed Portland’s downtown, linking neighborhoods fractured by an arterial road, and increasing socioeconomic diversity.
Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank is keynote speaker at a symposium and luncheon in Washington, DC, to honor the winning teams.
“SERA Architects designed this beautiful building and that’s what people see on the outside, but the real beauty is inside,” said Richard Harris, Executive Director of Central City Concern. “I can’t list all the amazing ways people find healing at 8NW8 everyday, recover and rebuild their lives and how a spirit of respect grows and extends out into the neighborhood and the Portland community.”
“The Terner Prize showcases the leadership required to overcome the many obstacles to building affordable housing,” said Doug Abbey, Prize Chair and Founder of IHP Capital Partners. “‘Quality, quantity and affordability’ was Don’s mantra and the prize is designed to recognize innovation in design, construction, financing, impact on residents’ lives and building thriving communities.”
“Gentrification in our cities is creating stiff competition for developers of affordable housing, ”said Harrison Fraker, Dean of the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. “Today we are shining a bright light on Central City Concern as a prime example of what local leaders in the field are accomplishing in so many places.”
More than 80 entries were received from a wide variety of programs including rural, urban, single-room occupancy, renovation, mixed income, and mixed use, rental and ownership. The five finalists were:
- People’s Self-Help Housing, Guadalupe, CA
- Public Initiatives Development Corporation, San Francisco, CA
- Mercy Housing California, San Francisco, CA
- New Economics for Women, Canoga Park, CA
- Jonathan Rose Companies, Irvington, NY
“Had he lived, Don would have been passionate about driving his commitment to quality affordable housing to the top of the national political agenda,” said Deirdre English, widow of Don Terner. “Since he was taken too soon, his friends and colleagues are fighting the fight without him, and he would be incredibly proud of them all.”
Jurists for this year’s prize were: Elinor Bacon, President, ER Bacon Development, LLC, in Washington, DC; David Baker, Principal, David Baker + Partners in San Francisco, CA; John King, urban design and architecture reporter, San Francisco Chronicle; Greg Maher, VP & Deputy General Counsel, Local Initiatives Support Corporation in New York, NY; J. Michael Pitchford, President & CEO, Community Preservation & Development Corporation in Washington, DC; and Geoffrey Wooding, AIA, Principal, Goody Clancy in Boston, MA.
About the I. Donald Terner Prize: The Terner Prize, a biennale award, recognizes successful and innovative affordable housing projects and their leadership teams. The $50,000 prize was created by colleagues, friends and family of I. Don Terner. The purpose of the prize is to spread Terner's vision and principles by identifying best practices in the field. The Terner Prize is administered by the Center for Community Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. For more information visit http://communityinnovation.berkeley.edu/ternerprize.
About Central City Concerns: Central City Concern (CCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit created in 1979 with a mission to provide pathways to self sufficiency through active intervention in poverty and homelessness. An innovator and leader in the field, CCC has a nationally recognized continuum of care integrating affordable housing with supportive services. Agency success is reliant upon developing and operating needs-appropriate affordable housing, the only permanent solution to homelessness. CCC operates 1,309 units of housing with new projects that will add 218 units by 2009. The development program is guided by efforts to identify unmet housing needs within the target population, and then to develop high quality, cost effective projects to meet these needs. A secondary focus of the program is on building community inside residential projects and in the neighborhoods where they are located, and on the ability to support residents at every stage of their transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. For more information visit http://www.centralcityconcern.org/
About the Center for Community Innovation (CCI): The Center for Community Innovation works on issues of interest to community clients: revitalizing neighborhoods, developing economic resilience, designing and programming for the public realm, and producing and preserving affordable housing. For more information visit http://communityinnovation.berkeley.edu