Cottage Development Design Competition
Information on the cottage development design competition.
Project Overview
The City of Albuquerque has been awarded an AARP Community Challenge grant to hold a design competition in Fall 2026 for professionals and university students to create a cottage development project as age-friendly housing.
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
- 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 they win, they share prize money, but all members receive a one-year student membership to ULI NM.
Designing a More Livable, Age-friendly Community 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.
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:
|
| 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 Rules + Registration
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 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.