2-BuildReady RFI Questions and Attachment.pdf

BuildReady: Request for Information (RFI)

Background

In 2025 the City of Cincinnati received a $2 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With the grant funds, the City intends to create a set of freely available pre-approved plans for two-, three-, and four-family buildings, followed by construction of two demonstration projects using the plans. To kick off the process, the City will also host an Open Call Design Competition to generate ideas and interest for the pre-approved plans and provide an opportunity for community engagement.

This initiative, named BuildReady, is a joint effort by the City Manager’s Office, the Department of City Planning and Engagement (DCPE), the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), and the Department of Buildings and Inspections (B&I).

The ultimate goal of the project is to create pre-approved middle housing plans that are:

1. Contextual: Respect and enhance the context of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods

2. Attainable: Offer practical designs that keep costs within reach for many residents

3. Scalable: Make it possible for developers of all sizes to build these homes efficiently

The draft project timeline is as follows:

Public Engagement 8 weeks

Open Call Design Competition Submission Period 11 weeks Design Competition Review and Award 4 weeks

Post-Design Competition Debrief and Processing 4 weeks RFP for Pre-Approved Plans Submission Period 4 weeks

Pre-Approved Plan Development 16 weeks Demonstration Project Construction ~2 years

This project is actively developing, and the team is soliciting feedback from professionals and the public in order to:

1. Refine the process for the design competition and the RFP for pre-approved plans

2. Ensure broad participation in the design competition and usage of pre-approved plans

3. Further understand existing barriers to construction of this style of housing overall

4. Design meaningful engagement with residents and the local development community

This RFI is tailored toward professionals such as architects, developers, and engineers and is in addition to other outreach being conducted with residents and the public. There are three parts of the RFI:

Middle Housing Design Competition

Pre-Approved Middle Housing Plans

Identifying Barriers to Middle Housing

Respondents may complete one or all parts, and do not need to be current registered vendors with the City of Cincinnati. Questions are marked for a focus on ARCHITECTS, DEVELOPERS, or ALL. Each section may take about 15-20 minutes to complete. The RFI opens on Tuesday, March 3rd at 2:00 pm and closes on Friday, March 27th at noon. There will be two virtual sessions to gather feedback via discussion on Tuesday, March 10th at noon and Thursday, March 12th at noon. All questions are due by Friday, March 13th at noon, and responses to the questions will be provided by Friday, March 20th at noon.

Middle Housing Open Call Design Competition

To kick off the project, the project team will host an Open Call Design Competition for innovative yet practical middle housing designs. Submissions would be open to anyone, and would likely include a basic conceptual plan, rendering, and narrative. The purpose of this competition is to push creative and new ideas for middle housing in Cincinnati, generate interest from the local development and design community in the subsequent RFP to produce pre-approved plans, and to be a tool for community engagement that will inform criteria for the later RFP. The questions in this section pertain to specific elements of how the design competition may be structured and finalized.

ALL

1. Does the draft project timeline seem feasible?

2. Have you participated in a design competition before?

How did you hear about it?

Why did you participate?

Was it a good experience, and what would have made it better?

3. Would you participate in an Open Call Design Competition for middle housing? Why or why not?

Would monetary compensation for the winner affect your decision?

Would you participate in an Open Call Design Competition if it had no relationship to the awarding of a contract in the RFP process for the preparation of pre-approved plans?

2. What elements of a design competition would entice you to participate? What elements would dissuade you from participating?

3. What would be a reasonable level of effort (plan concepts at 5% complete, 10%, etc.) to ask for in a design competition without compensation? How about with moderate compensation (a few thousand dollars)? Or with multiple paid awards?

5. How many entries would you submit to an Open Call Design Competition that requests concepts for two, three, and four family buildings (i.e. would you just submit for one building type)?

Is there one building type you’d be more likely to submit over another?

6. What would be a reasonable amount of time to keep the competition open for the submission of conceptual plans (5% complete)?

7. What information would you need upfront to participate in the Open Call Design Competition?

8. What could be done to attract as many quality applicants as possible to participate in the design competition?

9. In what way do you think developers could or should be involved in a design competition? What do you think they could bring to this process?

10. What would be helpful to hear from the public engagement before the design competition?

Are there design elements (such as roof type)? If so, what are they?

Are there amenities (such as number of rooms)? If so, what are they?

What tradeoffs would be important to understand?

Pre-Approved Middle Housing Plans

After the Open Call Design Competition, the City will solicit a qualified team or firm of professionals through a Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop a set of pre-approved building plans for two-, three-, and four-family buildings in Cincinnati. There would be six plans created in total, two for each building type. The plans would be complete construction drawings, except for items pertaining to specific site conditions like a foundation. After the plans are complete, DCED will issue a process to award city land and funds to a qualified team or firm to construct two demonstration projects using the pre-approved plans. The purpose of the pre-approved plans is to lower soft costs and speed up the permitting timeline for middle housing, while ensuring compatibility with existing neighborhoods.

The questions in this section pertain to specific elements of pre-approved building plans as they relate to usage and potential barriers.

ARCHITECTS

RFP Process

1. Would you participate in both the Open Call Design Competition, and RFP process? Why or why not?

Is the combination of an Open Call Design Competition, RFP process, and the creation of the pre-approved plans too much of a time commitment for you or your firm?

2. What could be done to attract as many quality applicants as possible to participate in the RFP?

3. What is a reasonable amount of time to keep the submission window open for the RFP?

4. Would you have any concerns with submitting for an RFP which asks you to use as inspiration the selected designs from the competition to develop pre-approved plans?

5. What information would you need upfront to participate in the RFP?

6. Do you think submission of 30% plans during the RFP would be sufficient, or too much, to select a firm?

In your opinion, what would typical 30% middle housing plans include?

7. What is the feasibility of getting a detailed construction cost estimate with your submission to the RFP? Do you know the price of a cost estimate?

8. Would you be willing to work in teams with developers/contractors to submit an RFP? Why or why not?

What barriers or opportunities would there be to that partnership?

Pre-Approved Plan Creation

1. Does the ownership of pre-approved plans present liability issues for you or your firm that would prevent you from participating?

Do you have other concerns or suggestions about the ownership structure of pre-approved plans?

2. Pre-approved plans will likely be 80% complete given the need for site specific foundation design, etc. For the finalization of the last 20%, is it preferable to have a negotiated fee with the city that plan users will pay to the designer, or allow any architect to complete the final 20%?

Would your response change if the City takes on liability for the plans?

3. After an RFP award, what would be a typical amount of time to create the set of six 80% pre-approved plans from a 5% concept (two plans for each the two-, three, and four-family buildings)?

4. What would be reasonable monetary compensation to create the set of six 80% pre-approved plans for the two-, three- and four-family buildings? Please provide an estimated amount for each.

5. What would an approximate cost be for a contract to update the plans yearly to keep the current with building codes?

6. What is your interest level in modular housing? Do you think this project could integrate with modular housing?

DEVELOPERS

1. Would you be interested in working with architects to submit an RFP? Why or why not? What barriers would there be to that partnership? What benefits do you see in that partnership?

2. Would you use free, pre-approved plans to build two-, three-, and four-family buildings?

Would you use pre-approved plans that were not free, but discounted with other perks such as expedited permitting?

What are potential barriers to using the plans?

Would you use the plans if there were additional costs to finalize them? What price would be too much?

3. What other incentives would make using pre-approved plans more attractive, such as faster permits, waived infrastructure fees, easier subdivision regulations, etc.?

4. What suggestions do you have to ensure the designs are used and practical?

5. Do you have suggestions for bedroom/bathroom count for each unit, or features such as energy efficiency?

6. What could be done to attract as many quality applicants as possible to participate in the RFP?

7. Would having completed demonstration projects that use the pre-approved housing plans make you more likely to build them?

What information would be most beneficial for you to know from a constructed demonstration project using the pre-approved plans (material quantities, etc.)?

8. What is your interest level in modular housing? Do you think this project could integrate with modular housing?

ALL – Building/Unit Sizes

1. Attachment 1 shows six (6) initial concepts for the two-, three-, and four-family pre-approved plans building dimensions and unit sizes. These numbers are based on zoning constraints (including setbacks and lot width) as well as existing data for vacant lots that meet minimum lot size, allow middle housing, and are not located within Hillside Overlay Districts, Historic Districts, or Urban Design Overlay Districts.

Do you have any concerns about the proposed building width or depth?

i. What is the smallest building width you’d reasonably construct?

ii. Are 16ft, 17ft, or 18ft wide homes too small?

Are there better building widths or depths based on specific constructability considerations?

Are the proposed unit sizes too big or small based on Cincinnati’s market for middle housing?

Do you have any helpful suggestions for the city to consider when deciding on the size of the pre-approved plan buildings?

Identifying Barriers to Middle Housing

This project aims to reduce bureaucratic and cost burdens on the construction of middle housing. Understanding existing barriers to the development of middle housing is crucial in creating pre-approved plans that are practical and impactful. The questions in this section seek to identify these barriers and understand what additional issues may require further changes in order for the goals of this project to be fully realized.

ALL

1. Have you built middle housing (two, three, and four family) units? Were any in Cincinnati? Were any in the region?

2. Would you like to build more middle housing? Why or why not?

3. Do you think there’s a market for middle housing? Why or why not?

4. Based on your experience, what would be the relative rents and/or sale prices of middle housing units?

5. Of the following, which aspects are the biggest barriers to building more middle housing in Cincinnati:

a. Building code (IBC vs. IRC)

b. Cost of construction materials and labor

c. Fees from utilities

d. Inadequate infrastructure

e. Lack of available financing

f. Slow city approval processes

g. Subdivision regulations

h. Zoning regulations (setback, height, etc.)

6. For each of the barriers identified, please provide a few sentences describing your experience with the barriers in more detail.

7. For each of the barriers identified, please provide a potential solution to make building middle housing easier.

8. What other barriers have you encountered that would be helpful to be removed?

9. What City incentives would be the most impactful to you for building middle housing? It can be financial

(reduced fees, tax breaks), process improvements (faster approvals), or regulatory (zoning or subdivisions).

Attachment 1: Pre-Approved Plan Initial Design Concepts

1 2-family Narrow Stacked

Duplex 25 100 19 50 950 100 950 1,900 2,950

2 2-family Side-by-Side

Duplex 40 100 28 55 1,540 100 1,540 3,080 4,720

3 3-family Narrow Stacked

Triplex 30 100 24 50 1,200 100 800 2,400 3,700

4 3-family Triplex 40 100 28 60 1,680 100 1,120 3,360 5,140

5 4-family Narrow Stacked

Fourplex 40 100 28 50 1,400 100 700 2,800 4,300

6 4-family Fourplex 50 100 33 60 1,980 100 990 3,960 6,040 *Does not include basement or porch

Appox.

(ft2)/Unit

Design Lot Width (ft)

Design Lot Depth (ft)

Design House Width (ft)

House Type

Design House Depth (ft)

Approx.

Total (ft2)

Porch (ft2)

Basement (ft2)

Cincinnati Pre-Approved Plans Initial Design Concepts

Plan # Name Appox.

Building (ft2)*