Team Including Isenberg Students Wins Affordable Housing Development Competition

In their real estate classes at Isenberg, Samuel Hinrichs, a management major from the class of 2024 and Henry Schwarz, a finance major from the class of 2025, learned about some of the processes that go into planning new developments. They put that academic knowledge to work this past spring by participating at FHLBank Boston’s annual Affordable Housing Development Competition, and despite Hinrichs and Schwarz being new to the field of affordable housing, they excelled. Their team’s proposal, High Street Homes, won first place, a recognition which included a $10,000 prize to share among the rest of their team members and the developer they worked with.

Their High Street Homes initiative proposes to transform 10 underutilized parcels of land in Holyoke with a mixed-use development featuring 86 residential units as well as more than 10,000 square feet of community green space and rooftop amenities, ground-floor commercial space, and a daycare center. Upon applying to the competition, Hinrichs and Schwarz were paired with several other students to form their team, including UMass Amherst MS in architecture students Jason Soares de Carvalho, Zahra Shah Mohammady, and Michael Chancellor, who is also pursuing a master’s degree in landscape architecture. Their team was advised by John Gilbert, a real estate developer and Isenberg MBA alumnus. Schwarz expressed appreciation for the opportunity to work with students from different colleges at UMass, saying “This competition was a case study of the success that can come from collaboration between Isenberg and the Department of Architecture, and specifically from the real estate program.”

Hinrichs says their proposal stood out from its competitors because it emphasized feasibility first. “We tried to approach it from a stance that was really grounded in real-world costs,” he says. “Like, these are really the numbers that would happen for a development of this size.” This approach showed the judges that their ideas didn’t just look good on paper—they really could be implemented. The team also focused on developing a coherent narrative. “The proposal told a story about the city of Holyoke,” says Hinrichs. “It really showed that what we were working on could actually work and that this is a real, tangible need that we were addressing.”

Support from Isenberg

In their competition preparation, both Hinrichs and Schwarz drew on the foundational knowledge that they gained at Isenberg. They cited two courses in particular, Principles of Real Estate (SCH-MGMT 333) and Real Estate Finance, Analysis, and Investment (SCH-MGMT 433), both taught by David Gaunt Faculty Fellow in Real Estate Jeffrey Clark, as being particularly helpful in preparing them. Clark hopes to continue expanding the real estate program at Isenberg, with the goal of one day adding a dedicated major. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to compete if I didn’t have the skills from Isenberg,” Schwarz says.

This was the first time Hinrichs and Schwarz had participated in any sort of formal business competition, and it was also their first experience working on affordable housing and affordable housing financing, as they had only studied traditional real estate in their coursework. This came with a learning curve, but Hinrichs gives credit to Clark for supporting and preparing them throughout the process, as well as recommending that they compete in the first place. Schwarz says that being part of this project helped solidify his interest in continuing in the real estate field: “I think this competition will help me stand out. Real-world experience is definitely the best way to prepare for your career and know where you want to work in the future.”

What’s next for High Street Homes? Some of the parcels of land would still need to be acquired from the town of Holyoke before work could begin, but the team has been in contact with their developer post-competition, who hopes to use aspects of the team’s work on this project or a future one. “There’s a palpable excitement about the kind of projects that affordable housing brings into communities,” says Hinrichs. “And there’s strong evidence of the need for it.”