Cottage Development Design Competition Information on the cottage development design competition. https://www.cabq.gov/planning/cottage-development/design-competition https://www.cabq.gov/++resource++plone-logo.svg Cottage Development Design Competition Information on the cottage development design competition. https://www.cabq.gov/planning/cottage-development/design-competition https://www.cabq.gov/planning/images/mralogooneabqweb.jpg

Cottage Development Design Competition

Information on the cottage development design competition.

Overview
Purpose
Details
Timeline
Partners

Project Overview

The City of Albuquerque has been awarded an AARP Community Challenge grant to hold a design competition in Fall 2026 for design professionals and University of New Mexico (UNM) students to create a cottage development project as age-friendly housing.

Competition Partners
KRQE New Story (8/18/2026) [Video]

The winner will best demonstrate how their design provides opportunities for residents to age-in-place with good access to nearby services and amenities and fits into the context of the surrounding neighborhood.

The competition will award cash prizes for first place and honorable mention in two tracks:

Design Professionals

First Place: $5,000 and a 1-year professional membership to ULI NM
Honorable mention: $1,000 and a 1-year professional membership to ULI NM
Note: Design Professionals may enter in teams of up to 3 members. If a team wins, team members share the prize money.

UNM Students

First Place: $2,500 and a 1-year student membership to ULI NM
Honorable mention: $500 and a 1-year student membership to ULI NM
Note: Students may enter in teams of up to 3 members. If a team wins, team members share the prize money. The winning student team members each also receive a one-year student membership to ULI NM.

Designing More Livable, Age-friendly Neighborhoods for Albuquerque

As Albuquerque's population continues to age, the need for housing that is accessible, affordable, and adaptable has become increasingly important. This design competition encourages innovative thinking about how homes and neighborhoods can better support residents throughout every stage of life. The design competition seeks to elicit creative solutions that make aging-in-place more attainable by showcasing cottage development as a type of housing that can meet the needs of current and future generations.

competition Flyer

Design Rules + Registration

all the details here

Design Competition Milestones

The competition will begin in September 2026 and end with an awards event in November 2026.

Date	Event	Description
Tues., September 1	Kick-off Event	A summit to provide background on key matters: demographic changes in our region and their impact on housing demands, age-friendly housing needs, and zoning changes in support of housing diversity.
Tues., September 22	Competition Brief	A virtual session for those considering entering the competition detailing competition requirements and timeline, with the opportunity for questions and answers.
Fri., October 2	Deadline to Register	Individual and team registration online via design competition website.
Thurs.-Fri., October 22-23	Charrette & Feedback Pin-up	An optional event for all competition participants, with experts on site to offer guidance.
Fri., November 13	Deadline to Submit	Deadline to submit competition entries online in a PDF format.
Fri., November 20,	Awards Event	An open house showcasing all competition entries, announcing winners, and providing the opportunity for winners to present their designs.
Spring 2027	Community Dialogue Event	An online forum for winners to share their design with a broader audience along with a panel of experts to discuss lessons learned from the competition and potential next steps to encourage age-friendly housing developments in Albuquerque.

Design Competition Partners

The design competition is a collaborative project that brings together the public, private, and education realms to partner on issues related to housing, planning, aging, community development, and design.

AARP

This design competition is funded through the AARP Community Challenge Grant. The AARP Community Challenge grant program is part of the nationwide AARP Livable Communities initiative that helps communities make immediate improvements and jump-start long-term progress in support of residents of all ages.

In 2017, AARP designated the City of Albuquerque as an Age-Friendly City. Since then, AARP has partnered with the Department of Senior Affairs to create an Age-friendly Plan and a design guide for age-friendly housing in Albuquerque.

City of Albuquerque

City Departments are partnering on this competition to serve our individual missions and to meet the shared goal of providing housing that people need and can afford.

Senior Affairs

The Department of Senior Affairs provides resources that help our community thrive while embracing aging. Senior Affairs has a long-standing partnership with AARP to help seniors live with dignity, stay healthy, and engage with their community. This competition helps implement the Age-friendly Action Plan, which identified providing affordable, age-friendly housing and housing options for seniors as a key priority.

Planning

The Planning Department reviews development projects, helps communities plan for the future, and prepares updates to the City’s zoning code to shape the built environment. The Urban Design & Development Division is a partner in this competition to test the viability of recent zoning updates that allow cottage development on smaller lots in Albuquerque as a housing option for multigenerational living, aging in place, and intentional communities as neighborhood-scale infill development.

Metropolitan Redevelopment

The Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency provides opportunities for public/private partnerships on development projects that can catalyze community development in areas that need investment. The MRA is a partner in this competition to explore how cottage development may deliver infill housing options that are generally challenging to the private market.

Health, Housing, & Homelessness

The Department of Health, Housing, & Homelessness develops affordable housing and provides homeless services. HHH is a partner in the competition to explore how cottage development may deliver lower-cost housing units for rental or co-ownership.

University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning

UNM’s School of Architecture and Planning provides undergraduate and graduate degree programs in architecture, planning, and landscape architecture. UNM also offers ULI’s Urban PLAN as a course offering in the fall and spring semesters. As educators to the next generation of designers, each program is encouraging students to enter the competition, individually or in teams.

Mid-Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

The Mid-Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MRMPO) works with jurisdictions throughout the Albuquerque area to help plan the future of our multimodal transportation systems. MRMPO is partnering in this competition to help encourage and promote a housing option that is well connected to destinations and that can be both affordable and well-suited for smaller households and aging in place.

New Mexico Chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI NM)

ULI NM is a membership organization focused on cities and what makes them the best versions of themselves. ULI members are professionals involved in urban development, including design professionals, developers, financers, Realtors/brokers, and planners. ULI-NM offers programming, networking, and mentorship opportunities to young and emerging professionals through its Young Leaders and NEXT groups. ULI is excited to partner in this competition as a way to visualize a new housing option and identify potential barriers to developing housing that people need and can afford. Because of their expertise, ULI members are encouraged to enter the competition as participants, attend events, or volunteer to be judges. ULI provided the pro forma for the competition to be able to compare the viability of the cottage development projects.