Housing Innovation Lab

The University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center has partnered with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Greater Cincinnati to create the Housing Innovation Lab, a regional research-and-development platform built around a simple idea: What if communities approached housing challenges the way leading companies approach innovation?

Designed to identify, test and scale solutions to the region’s most pressing housing problems, the Lab elevates promising concepts from research and analysis into practical, real-world applications — helping regional leaders determine which ideas warrant further investment and implementation.

“Housing challenges are complex, and no single program, organization or source of capital is going to solve them. But complexity can’t become an excuse for standing still,” said Ron Stubblefield, GCF’s Director of Housing and Place-Based Initiatives. “If we want different results, we have to be willing to try different approaches, to test promising ideas, learn quickly from what works and what doesn’t, and bring the right people and the right capital together behind the ideas that prove themselves.”

By creating a platform for housing innovation, the Lab aims to position Greater Cincinnati as a leader in developing practical, evidence-based solutions that strengthen the region’s housing ecosystem and expand opportunity for residents across the community.

The Housing Innovation Lab combines UC's strengths in research and evaluation; GCF’s leadership in regional housing strategy and impact investing; and LISC's expertise in implementation and neighborhood partnerships.

The Housing Innovation Lab unites researchers, nonprofit leaders, developers, financial institutions, public-sector partners and community stakeholders to evaluate ideas, develop pilots and expand solutions that demonstrate results. Partners include:

• Avivar Capital
• CIG Communities
• The Catalytic Fund
• Cincinnati Development Fund
• Fifth Third Bank
• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati
• Kentucky Housing Corporation
• Model Group
• PNC Bank
• Urban Sites

Susan Thomas, Senior Vice President and Head of Community Development at Fifth Third Bank and President of the Fifth Third Bank Community Development Corporation, chairs this group that identifies financing gaps that block otherwise viable housing projects from moving forward.

The Capital Working Group also develops structures that combine philanthropic, private and public capital to support housing production and preservation.

One of the Lab's first objectives is to assess the feasibility of a regional modular housing production facility — and if so, what production model, financing structure, partnerships and implementation conditions would make such a facility viable.

The modular and manufactured housing workstream was developed with early leadership from Habitat for Humanity President and CEO Joe Hansbauer.

“Families across our region are being priced out of homeownership, and the cost of building a home is a big part of the reason,” Hansbauer said. “We owe it to them to ask hard questions about how homes get built. This study will tell us, based on evidence, whether regional modular production can lower costs and help more families own a home.”