Winchester Institute helps professionals tackle nationwide affordable-housing issues

Affordable housing isn’t just a challenge in university towns like Auburn or bustling cities like Birmingham, but rather for home seekers across the nation in markets of all sizes.

The Winchester Institute for Real Estate Development, administered under Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business and the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, recently initiated a program to help.

Professionals in real estate, development, construction and public policy were invited to sharpen their skills in affordable housing through Auburn’s inaugural Affordable Housing Professional Certificate Program. The event, offering an opportunity to earn the certificate, took place July 21–25 at the Auburn in Birmingham Building in downtown Birmingham.

“We had 27 attendees, which far exceeded our initial expectations,” said institute administrative director Kim Kuerten. “It just verified what an important topic this is and why we need to continue to develop educational offerings in this space. Most of the attendees were from the Southeast, but we did have attendees from as far away as Arizona and Illinois.”

The curriculum combined hands-on learning with expert-led sessions, offering attendees practical experience through real-world case studies, team-based capstone projects, and a final presentation to a simulated investment committee.

“Affordable housing is a critical issue across the country,” said John Benner, executive director of The Winchester Institute. “This program provides professionals with the resources and networks necessary to make meaningful contributions in their communities.”

From Arizona to Auburn

Program attendee Irma Hollamby Cain,  a deputy director of housing services in Tempe, Arizona, praised Auburn and The Winchester Institute for the influence and assistance they provide affordable housing.

“Like many cities in the West, Tempe faces intense pressure on housing affordability. Rising rents, limited land, a steady influx of population, and decades of underinvestment in deeply affordable housing have left too many people priced out or at risk of displacement,” Cain said.

“Tempe has taken bold steps, to include creating an innovative, dedicated funding stream for affordable housing development called ‘Hometown for All’ and passing a housing bond to further our efforts in housing affordability, but we’re up against regional and structural forces that require both local innovation and sustained federal investment,” she said.

Looking to fill the gaps in Arizona’s efforts, Cain said she found help from Auburn University.

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“Attending the Winchester Institute’s Affordable Housing Development Certification program was both energizing and affirming. The week deepened my understanding of the development lifecycle, financial structuring, and dealmaking strategies that can make or break affordable housing projects.” 

Hollamby Cain, deputy director of housing services in Tempe, AZ

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Broadening Auburn’s footprint

Cain’s comments reaffirmed the program’s importance, said Damon Duncan, principal owner of Clesia Ventures LLC in Atlanta. He was tapped as an instructor for the program.

“There is a severe shortage of affordable housing, both in the state of Alabama and across the nation,” said Duncan, an Auburn alumnus and adjunct instructor. “There is a national deficit of approximately 7.1 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters—just 35 available units per 100 such households.”

Birmingham is the leader in affordable housing development/redevelopment in Alabama, he said, providing a window of opportunity.

“We felt it would be very impactful to the Birmingham community while helping to broaden Auburn's footprint in the state,” Duncan said.

“With the mission of elevating real estate education, an affordable housing-centered curriculum addresses a real estate crisis that plagues the country. With the addition of the affordable housing component, Auburn is positioned to offer what no other major institution offers in the way of real estate development,” he said.

Nothing else like it

David Garcia, another professional recruited as a program instructor, shared similar sentiments. He is the vice president and project partner for Lincoln Avenue Communities.

Although his firm is based in Santa Monica, California, he is based in Auburn and has served on the Advisory Board for the Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program for the past 15 years.

“We felt this program was important because there is no other offering like it nationally. There are numerous affordable housing conferences that you can attend that will spend an hour or two on a topic,” Garcia said. “We wanted this program to be different in that it was an immersive weeklong, in-person event that truly delved into all facets of affordable housing.

“We brought in industry leaders as panelists to go through topics like policy background, green benefits, debt and equity, public housing redevelopment, Section 8 and historic redevelopment, soft funds used in affordable housing, site selection and design, the general contractor process, and affordable housing originations,” he said.

The Winchester Institute’s reputation spreads

Cain said she knew to expect good things from the Winchester-sponsored event.

“I heard about Auburn's MRED program through professional circles in the affordable housing development community, so this executive certification immediately stood out,” she said. “Auburn’s team from the Harbert College of Business, the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, and The Winchester Institute has put together a rigorous, relevant program that’s grounded in real-world development challenges.

“This program is helping to build a pipeline of mission-driven career professionals who can actually execute on deals and scale housing solutions.”

The mother of all programs

The Winchester Institute offers special advantages in its training programs because of the diverse spectrum of professional experience it has to offer, said Justin Benefield, director of the MRED Program and academic director of The Winchester Institute.

“The Master of Real Estate Development program is the mother program at Auburn University, meaning all our other real estate offerings grow from that wellspring,” he said. “We wanted to offer a program that would help affordable housing executives, developers and policymakers understand and navigate the process ahead of them as they make decisions about development and redevelopment of current and future properties in their areas.

“The beauty of The Winchester Institute is that it can draw expertise from across the entirety of Auburn University,” Benefield added. “We are not siloed in just one college. We can also more easily bring in industry experts when we are offering professional certifications like this affordable housing program.”

The affordable housing crisis in the United States is an “all-hands-on-deck” problem, he said.

“If The Winchester Institute can offer an executive format professional training program to increase the number of helping hands on the deck, then we think that is a good thing.”

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About The Winchester Institute
The Winchester Institute leverages the expertise of Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business and the College of Architecture, Design and Construction to advance real estate development. Through industry connections, practical education, and applied research, the Institute addresses the complexities of real estate development while fostering innovation and success. Its programs serve a diverse audience, from seasoned professionals to students, promoting impactful contributions to the industry.