NAR, Mayors Name Boulder an Ambassador City for Its Affordable Housing Efforts

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2007

The National Association of Realtors® and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have designated Boulder, Colo., a 2007 Ambassador City, and are honoring the city and the Boulder Area Realtor®  Association through the Ambassadors for Cities program.

NAR and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, through its Council on the New American City, launched the Ambassadors for Cities program in 2003. The program encourages cities and local Realtor®  associations to form partnerships to promote homeownership and affordable housing, and the award includes a $5,000 grant from NAR.

Boulder has been designated an Ambassador City because of a partnership between BARA, the city, the Affordable Housing Alliance and Wells Fargo Bank to build two affordable duplexes. BARA launched the project, called Southern Lights, in 2005, and four area families will soon call it home. 

“NAR is America’s leading advocate for homeownership, and Realtors® are committed to increasing affordable housing opportunities in their communities,” said NAR President Pat V. Combs, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt. “Thanks to our local and state associations’ creative strategies and partnerships like the Southern Lights project, more families are able to experience the joys of owning a home.”

BARA raised money for the Southern Lights project by raffling a children’s playhouse. The playhouse was hand-built by Realtors®, and the raffle raised nearly $25,000 seed money for the two duplexes. BARA worked to create partnerships with the city of Boulder, AHA and Wells Fargo to help finance and plan the duplexes. The groundbreaking for the homes took place in late 2006, and construction is nearly complete. BARA helped build the homes and dedicated more than 100 volunteers and nearly 800 labor hours to the project.

The mayor’s office, through the city’s Department of Housing and Human Services, was actively involved in selecting the four families that purchased the duplexes, which were sold well below the area’s median home sales price. The buyers were screened to meet the city’s low- to moderate-income requirements and will also contribute 100 hours to building their homes. All four units will be made permanently affordable by restrictions placed on the property. 

NAR First Vice President Charles McMillan and Vice President and Liaison to Committees PeggyAnn McConnochie presented the Ambassadors for Cities plaque to BARA President Chris Welch and Deputy Mayor Suzy Ageton at a community house warming on Saturday, July 21. The event took place at the duplexes, and more than 100 guests attended.

“Realtors® have a long tradition of building communities – not with bricks and mortar, but through programs, partnerships and funding that help make more homes available to more people,” said McMillan. “The Southern Lights project is a shining example of how Realtors® can work with mayors and other partners to ensure that more families can afford the American dream of homeownership.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.