For Immediate Release: September 2004

Baltimore, MD -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the Optimal Solutions Group (Optimal) and Abt team a contract to quantify the economic and social benefits of housing revitalization. The 602 Nonprofit Disposition Programt is a new program that makes HUD-held single-family homes available for sale to units of general local government (UGL) and non-profit (NP) for the purpose of providing homeownership opportunities to low and moderate income households and to revitalize certain urban spaces, termed Revitalization Areas (RVAs). UGLs and NPs may establish an "Asset Control Area" within an RVA and then commit by contract to purchase all single-family HUD-owned homes in that tract.

The ACA Program has two objectives: (1) foster homeownership and (2) revitalize urban areas. The primary objective of the research at hand is the development of an appropriate methodological approach, including the identification of a set of measures, for the future evaluation of ACA.

Optimal has served the needs of numerous governmental and commercial clients, including federal and state agencies, community-based organizations, business associations, and law firms.

For more information, contact Mark Turner, 443.451.7060 or mturner@optimalsolutionsgroup.com.