2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 37

members opportunities to get
involved in their communities.
The generosity and commitment
of Preston Butcher and other members
is helping to drive what could
be a major transformative effort to
solve one of the nation's most perplexing
and tragic dilemmas.
ULI's evolving efforts
One thing that sets apart Homeless
to Housed is the initiative's focus
on homelessness as both a housing
issue and a social problem.
" There are a lot of experts working
in the homeless space that are really
good at understanding the moral
reasons to explore homelessness, the
social service side of homelessness, "
says Will Herbig, senior director of
ULI's Homeless to Housed Initiative.
" But I think there is a struggle, particularly
in the U.S., in understanding
the housing side of homelessness. "
Herbig says the initiative fits
within the Terwilliger Center's aim of
advancing the full spectrum of housing
opportunities, particularly for
low- and moderate-income households.
Unlike with conventionally
affordable worker housing, however,
which aims to provide a place to live
for workers who have been priced
out of competitive housing markets,
" When we're talking about the
unhoused, we're talking about folks
who really have no income, or very
little income, " Herbig says.
As a result, Homeless to Housed
seeks ways to create " deeply affordable "
housing, which is aimed at
people whose earnings are less than,
or equal to, 30 percent of the area
median income, Herbig explains.
Another key aspect of Homeless
to Housed is the program's recognition
that such housing must be connected
to what Herbig describes as
" meaningful support services. " They
include help for people with underlying
mental health or substance
abuse issues, but also other sorts of
help. " We often forget about needed
infrastructure services, such as proximity
to reliable transportation, transit,
and health care, " he says.
LifeMoves Mountain View, located in Moutain View, California, consists of 100
small, boxy, modular dwellings that provide separate units for single adults,
couples, and families experiencing homelessness.
" We must look at what [the tools
are] to make that work, " Herbig says.
" And not only . . . the tools-we got
to actually build the units. But then,
what are the tools to actually operate
those units? It's often easier to
build a building than it is to operate
the building in perpetuity. "
Herbig also emphasizes the necessity
of weighing solutions across a
full spectrum. " That means permanent
supportive housing, both new
construction and retrofits, " he says.
" It means temporary one-story solutions.
We're interested in the innovations
that are out there. We want to
showcase [all] tools in the toolbox
for commercial real estate leaders
and partners to advance solutions
to the growing humanitarian and
economic crisis facing unhoused
individuals and families. This includes
understanding the policy barriers
[to] advancing rapidly deployable
and cost-effective solutions. "
To that end, Herbig says the
Homeless to Housed effort includes
three core elements:
Research: Homeless to Housed will
build upon the original 2022 report
by continuing to gather information
on innovative approaches and
adding three to six new case studies
annually.
Building awareness: " We want to
spur meaningful conversations at
all levels of ULI, " Herbig says. That
includes " meaningful conversations
at the Spring and Fall Meetings,
articles in Urban Land, discussions
in our district councils, and dialogbuilding
events. "
Local technical assistance: Homeless
to Housed aims to tap into the
talent and expertise of ULI's network
of district councils by funding technical
assistance/innovation grants
that address homelessness issues.
The initiative is already supporting
its first group of such projects by
providing $115,000 apiece to councils
in Philadelphia; San Antonio; San
Diego; San Jose (via ULI San Francisco);
and Lafayette, Louisiana (via
ULI Louisiana). Each council is investigating
a different aspect of dealing
with homelessness, including how to
preserve temporary housing created
during the COVID-19 pandemic and
leveraging property owned by faithbased
communities.
" ULI members are the brick-andmortar
folks, and this expertise is
needed in the conversation, " Herbig
says. " ULI members bring [knowledge]
in how to leverage capital,
finance, construction innovation, all
[of which are] required to bring projects
to market . . . whether those are
traditional buildings or temporary
one-story approaches. ULI expertise
is needed to move the needle. "
FALL 2023
URBAN LAND
37
ULI FOUNDATION
LIFEMO VES
2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land
