BuildReady Middle Housing

The City of Cincinnati's Department of City Planning and Engagement, Department of Community and Economic Development, and Department of Buildings and Inspections are issuing a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the BuildReady Middle Housing initiative, funded by a $2 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This RFI seeks professional feedback and expertise on three primary components: structuring an Open Call Design Competition for middle housing concepts (two-, three-, and four-family buildings), developing pre-approved building plans with six total plans (two each for two-, three-, and four-family buildings) that are 80 percent complete with site-specific elements to be finalized by plan users, and identifying practical barriers to middle housing construction. The initiative targets architects, developers, engineers, and qualified vendors and does not require respondents to be registered vendors with the City. Key deliverables include design competition framework recommendations, specifications for pre-approved plans addressing lot dimensions and unit sizes based on zoning constraints, and analysis of market viability, construction costs, financing challenges, and potential city incentives such as expedited permitting and fee reductions. The RFI opened on March 3, 2026, at 2:00 PM with virtual feedback sessions scheduled for March 10th and 12th at noon; written questions must be submitted by March 13th at noon with responses provided by March 20th at noon. The overall project timeline includes eight weeks of public engagement, an 11-week design competition submission period, four weeks for design review and award, four weeks for post-competition processing, four weeks for RFP submission, 16 weeks for pre-approved plan development, and approximately two years for demonstration project construction. All responses must be submitted electronically through the City's Bonfire portal (https://cincinnati-oh.bonfirehub.com/) by the final deadline of March 27, 2026, at 12:00 PM ET, with a maximum file size of 1,000 MB.

This is a sources sought notice and not a formal procurement solicitation; therefore, the City will not reimburse costs associated with response development and assumes no obligation to accept submissions or take action based on responses received. Respondents must include company contact information, a designated point of contact with telephone number and email address, and a current list of references for comparable work supplied to other companies or municipalities. Should a formal procurement solicitation materialize from this RFI, all future offerors will be subject to the City's economic inclusion programs under Cincinnati Municipal Code Chapters 323 and 324 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Program under Chapter 325, with specific consideration for small business enterprises (SBE), minority-owned business enterprises (MBE), and women-owned business enterprises (WBE) participation. No budget range or award values are specified in the RFI documents, as this is an information-gathering phase intended to inform the design and structure of subsequent procurement activities. Additional information regarding City vendor registration and SBE/M/WBE program guidelines is available at www.cincinnati-oh.gov.