Arizona Department of Housing Honors 2026 Housing Hero Award Recipients

Phoenix, Arizona — The Arizona Department of Housing announced the winners of the 2026 Housing Hero Awards on Friday, August 28, during the final day of the annual Arizona Housing Forum in Phoenix.

The forum brought together more than 500 affordable housing professionals, developers, service providers and community stakeholders to discuss strategies for improving housing access and community development across Arizona.

The Housing Hero Awards are named in honor of the late Brian Mickelsen, an original member of the Arizona Housing Finance Authority and former City Manager for the Town of Cottonwood. The awards recognize outstanding achievements in affordable housing development, community partnerships and housing-related services.

2026 Housing Hero Award Recipients

Urban Development of the Year: Phoenix Scholar House

Brinshore Development and A.R.M. of Save the Family Foundation of Arizona are recognized for this 56-unit affordable housing community which is the first Arizona affiliate of the nationally-recognized ‘Family Scholar House’ designed specifically for low-income parent scholars pursuing full-time postsecondary education while raising their children.

Rural Development of the Year: Sycamore Vista I & II

Atlantic Development & Investments, Inc. is recognized for this two-phase, 160-unit affordable housing community serving Camp Verde, Arizona which includes a mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedroom townhomes for families, rural Arizona’s first on-site HEAD START educational program for 3-5 year olds, and a vibrant series of public murals throughout inspired by the Verde River.

Tribal Development of the Year: Two Yaqui Square Elder Apartments

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is recognized for this 45-unit affordable housing community near Tucson, Arizona designed to support its elders aging in place featuring a flex space for visiting health services, oversized balconies, large windows, in-unit washers/dryers, low-step showers, emergency pull cord systems, and more than double the required fully accessible units.

CDBG Development of the Year: Bullhead Regional Food Bank Expansion

The City of Bullhead City is recognized for expanding its food distribution facility with a 4,000-square foot warehouse plus site access improvements creating greater storage capacity to better serve the nutritional needs of low-income residents. The expansion enabled higher volume deliveries of food and increased the number of people served each week from 300 to 1,200.

Developer Partner of the Year: Mercy Housing Mountain Plains

The company is recognized for creating more than 700 affordable housing apartment units across 14 properties in Maricopa and Pima Counties including The Cascalote in Glendale (148 homes exclusively for seniors including veterans) and Western Winds in Tucson (100 homes exclusively for seniors) with both properties offering comprehensive supportive services.

Arthur Crozier Partner in Housing: Martina Kuehl

Martina Kuehl is honored for her more than 3 decades shaping Arizona affordable housing which includes configuring foundational state programs (HOME, PHA vouchers, rural homeownership, nonprofit pre-development loans), sustaining a partnership with state agencies to translate policy into practice, and delivering community roadmaps with measurable results.

Recognizing Housing Solutions Across Arizona

The 2026 Housing Hero Awards highlight the range of housing needs across the state, from urban family housing and rural development to tribal elder housing, senior housing and community food-security infrastructure. The recognition also reflects the importance of partnerships among state agencies, cities, tribes, nonprofit organizations and private developers in addressing Arizona’s housing challenges.

The Arizona Department of Housing, established in 2002, administers programs that create, preserve and invest in affordable housing statewide. The agency works with community housing partners that build and manage affordable housing, with many programs supported by federal funding for lower-income households.