Affordable Housing Finance is pleased to present the 34 finalists of its ninth annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the nation’s top developments of 2012 and 2013.

We received more than 140 nominations this year, and we carefully selected the finalists in eight categories.

Over the following pages, you’ll read about these outstanding developments that were selected on our assessment of several key characteristics, including adding to the affordable housing stock, neighborhood revitalization, innovative financing, and community support.

Now it’s up to you to choose the most deserving in each category as well as an overall winner. Get a closer look at the developments through expanded slideshows, and then  go vote by Aug. 16. Voting is open to Affordable Housing Finance magazine and newsletter subscribers as of July 1.

The winners will be announced on the website in September and honored at AHF Live: The 2013 Affordable Housing Developers’ Summit, Nov. 20-22, at the Fairmont Millennium Park in Chicago.


Family Finalists

Oakland Project Serves Families, Revitalizes Neighborhood
Clinton Commons provides homes for low-income families and individuals with special needs in the Lower San Antonio neighborhood.

New Housing, Grocery Coming to Downtown York
George Street Commons will provide housing opportunities for working families as well as fresh food options for the neighborhood.

Single-Family Homes Rebuilt in Joplin
The affordable homes are helping to meet the housing need after the city was ravaged by a tornado in May 2011.

Hunters View Transformation Reknits Community
The project is the first public housing revitalization to proceed under the HOPE SF program.

Public Housing Redeveloped in Midtown Anchorage
Loussac Place provides 120 units of housing as well as a community for mixed-income families.

Green Finalists

Bronx Development Encourages Healthier Lifestyles
The LEED-Platinum Arbor House provides healthy, energy-efficient, and affordable homes as well as a rooftop hydroponic farm.

McCormack Baron Salazar Helps Revitalize Hometown Neighborhood
Arlington Grove features the historic renovation of an abandoned school into lofts as well as townhouses and garden apartments.

Chicago Landmark Undergoes Green Rehab
The 89-unit Harvest Commons has a focus on food, with an urban farm and a teaching kitchen.

Vacant Hollywood Hotel Transformed into Supportive Housing

Step Up on Vine provides housing and a wealth of services for mentally ill homeless individuals.

Historic Rehab Finalists

Enduring Minneapolis Building Becomes Workforce Housing
The historic Buzza building has been transformed into 136 apartments.

Historic YMCA Building Now Serves as Housing, Health Center

A community landmark in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood has been adapted into housing for the homeless.

Route 66 Motel Revamped into Apartments
A historic Route 66 motel in Albuquerque, N.M., is rehabilitated into affordable housing.

Historic Hotel Berry Returns as Housing
Downtown Sacramento hotel is restored as affordable housing.

From Box Factory to Affordable Housing
An old paper mill and box factory is restored as affordable housing in Leominster, Mass.

Preservation Finalists

POAH Preserves Massachusetts Portfolio
The preservation transaction keeps six buildings with 841 units affordable for decades to come.

Rhode Island Rehab Removes Blight
A troubled scattered-site development in Providence has been rehabbed into new affordable apartments.

A Model for Preservation in Poway
Community HousingWorks found a way to preserve and rehab Poway Villas, a challenging federally assisted property.

At-Risk Property Gets Fresh Start

Wallick-Hendy has revitalized a Cincinnati development into Villages at Roll Hill, the nation's largest green renovation of affordable...

Rural Finalists

Developers Merge Three Rural Properties
The newly renovated development with energy-efficiency upgrades will serve both seniors and families.

Historic School Now Serving Seniors
The Park Street School in Kennebunk, Maine, is getting a new lease on life after standing empty since 2005.

Cape Cod Town Gets Infusion of Affordable Housing
Province Landing will provide needed mixed-income housing for Provincetown locals.

Woodstock, N.Y., Project Opens After 10 Years of Work
Woodstock Commons overcame years of resistance and now serves seniors, families, and artists.

Seniors Finalists

Minneapolis Project Provides Homes for Native Elders
Bii Di Gain Dash Anwebi is serving the American Indian urban population as well as other low-income seniors.

Enterprise Homes Transforms Vacant Lot into Seniors Housing
The Greens at Irvington Mews in Baltimore provides a community for residents and aids neighborhood revitalization.

Development Focuses on Seniors and the Arts
Long Beach Senior Arts Colony features an amenity-rich environment for its residents.

Merritt Crossing Helps Fill Seniors Housing Need in Oakland
Formerly homeless, veterans, and those living with HIV/AIDS are among the diverse residents at the LEED-Platinum development.

Special-Needs Finalists

97 Crooke Avenue Completes the Neighborhood
The supportive housing development replaces a long vacant lot in Brooklyn.

Housing First Development Opens in Arizona
Encanto Pointe serves the chronically homeless in Phoenix.

Project Combines Housing and Services for Veterans
Built on a Veterans Affairs campus, New Directions Sepulveda will serve Los Angeles' many homeless vets.

Health and Housing Connect at Denver Project
Renaissance West End Flats delivers affordable housing and a health center for formerly homeless and low-income individuals and families.

Urban Finalists

Housing Cleans Up Blighted Seattle Corner
The Jefferson provides 40 units of affordable housing on a site that had stood vacant for more than 30 years.

Kings Terrace Revitalizes Miami-Dade Neighborhood
Using Neighborhood Stabilization funds, Pinnacle Housing Group has transformed a troubled apartment community.

Self-Storage Warehouse Converted to Affordable Housing
Mackey Lofts in Pittsburgh's Uptown neighborhood includes units for residents who are hearing and vision impaired.

New Mixed-Income Housing Comes to Chicago
The Michaels and Brinshore development team has created 137 units in 19 new buildings.