Cincinnati hit an important milestone this week in its quest to pre-approve missing middle housing designs. On September 14th, the city hosted an award ceremony to celebrate the winners of the BuildReady Design Competition, which called for two-, three-, and four-family housing designs that would fit in Cincinnati’s existing neighborhoods.
The competition generated professional and community interest, pulling in 92 total submissions from around the county and over 500 votes in the online People’s Choice voting category.
A professional jury panel and community stakeholder panel reviewed the submissions and selected winners for each of the three housing types. The next step in the process is to issue an RFP for an architect to develop the pre-approved building plan sets. The winning designs from the competition will inform the final plans.
Cincinnati is one of 12 communities involved in GOPC’s Pre-Approval Network, a cohort of cities developing pre-approved plan programs. These programs are aimed at reducing barriers to infill housing production through expedited permitting and promoting housing types that are contextual to their neighborhoods and priced attainably. GOPC congratulations Cincinnati on this important step forward in developing the BuildReady program!
Learn more about Cincinnati’s BuildReady program here.