Fundamentals of Affordable Housing: Design and Development

Fundamentals of Affordable Housing: Design and Development is a professional learning series that strengthens sector knowledge through real-world case studies. The series explores how affordable housing projects are designed, financed, approved, and built in San Diego County, with an emphasis on collaboration, problem-solving, and lessons learned.

All sessions are hosted as morning coffee gatherings, creating an accessible and welcoming environment for learning, conversation, and connection.

The program centers the voices of developers, architects, builders, public partners, and residents, offering honest insights into what it takes to move projects from concept to completion.

Why This Series

Affordable housing projects face increasingly complex challenges, including financing constraints, regulatory hurdles, community engagement, and construction realities. This series creates space for practitioners to learn directly from peers through shared case studies, while strengthening relationships across the disciplines involved in delivering affordable housing.

Program Format

The series includes three (3) events in 2026, all hosted as morning gatherings with coffee. The format is intentionally designed to support informal conversation, peer learning, and relationship building alongside structured discussion.

  • One (1) Architect Panel
    A moderated panel featuring leading affordable housing architects, focused on design excellence, feasibility, innovation, and collaboration in today’s environment.

  • Two (2) Property Tours and Case Study Conversations
    Guided site visits to Ruby Awards-winning or nominated properties. Each tour serves as a live case study with a facilitated conversation onsite.

What We Explore

Each property tour will focus on:

  • Project vision, goals, and population served

  • Development and design approach

  • Key challenges during planning, approval, and construction

  • How the project team navigated tradeoffs and constraints

  • Post occupancy reflections, including what worked and what did not

  • Lessons learned to inform future projects

Who Participates

  • Affordable housing developers

  • Architects and designers

  • General contractors

  • Public agency and city partners

  • Policy and advocacy professionals

  • Emerging professionals and students

Partnership Approach

Participation is collaborative and intentionally designed to be low lift. SDHF handles planning, facilitation, registration, and logistics. Project teams are invited to share their experience, insights, and lessons learned in a way that feels authentic and manageable.

Sponsorship and Funding Opportunities

Sponsorship support helps underwrite facilitation, logistics, and hospitality for the series. Funders may support the full program or individual events and will be recognized as partners in advancing professional learning in affordable housing design and development.

Contact

For more information, please contact:
Sarah Buchanan, Executive Vice President at sarah@housingsandiego.org