Wells Fargo Joins Forces With ICON To Support Initiative 99 Global Architecture Competition To Design Homes for $99,000

$500,000 philanthropic commitment made to Austin-based nonprofit to build winning 3D-printed designs in underserved community

AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2024 / Wells Fargo is joining forces with construction technology pioneer, ICON, to support its global architecture competition for affordable housing. The Wells Fargo Foundation is committing $500,000 in grant funding to Austin-based nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes to help bring to life Initiative 99-designed homes and see multiple homes built at Community First! Village to serve the underhoused community. Announced during ICON's showcase event at SXSW 2024, DOMUS EX MACHINA, ICON and Wells Fargo revealed the Initiative 99winning designs from phase I of the competition to reimagine affordable housing solutions for $99,000 or less. Upon completion of Phase II of the competition, ICON and Mobile Loaves & Fishes will select one winning design for ICON to deliver multiple units within Community First! Village's expansion of their growing development.

"The demand for more affordable, accessible and well-designed homes has never been greater, and Wells Fargo is committed to unlocking new ways of accelerating housing production while also reducing barriers to housing equity," said Darlene Goins, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. "ICON's innovative 3D-printed technology paired with these beautiful, imaginative Initiative 99 designs represent a potential model for the future of affordable housing. Wells Fargo is proud to help make these homes a reality."

"With Initiative 99, we are changing the way that we talk about affordable housing," said Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO, ICON. "When we talk about affordable housing, the conversation is often depressing and so are the results. Our goal is that Initiative 99 will create the conditions for affordable housing to be something hopeful, optimistic, and exciting, and furthermore be a catalyst for the building of some really incredible affordable homes that just years ago would not have even been possible. The future could be a wonder, but we have to all work together to make it so."

According to ICON, the vision of a home with construction costs for $99,000 or less has inspired and motivated city planners, developers, government officials, and nonprofit organizations for decades. And yet clear barriers subsist for realizing a truly affordable housing prototype at scale within communities that need them most. The current approach to homebuilding and addressing the global housing crisis is not working as more than 1.2 billion globally lack adequate shelter.