The deadline for the competition has been revised to Friday November 17th, 2023.

You can email your materials to Taylor Greenwell taylorg@ci.altoona.wi.us or Richard Downey richardd@ci.altoona.wi.us. If you need to send larger files, you can put them on a shared media site, such as OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive and send a link to both Taylor and Richard.

Competitors will be asked to provide a design with supporting documents to the City, and then present their materials to a selection committee during an open house hosted by the City. The submitted materials should include a description of their design, which addresses how their design will promote affordability and accessibility. Specifically, it should include a general floor plan, elevation drawings, and, if possible, a 3D rendering of the ADU from a source such as Revit.

The competition will be held during an open house by the City of Altoona. Competitors are being asked to submit materials that can be made available to both the selection committee and citizens that will provide more information about their designs. These materials should help people understand your design and sell it to both the crowd and to the selection committee.

The City will accept applications until Friday November 17th, 2023.

The City will work each applicant and schedule them to present their proposal to the selection committee during an open house during the week of October 23rd.

After the competition, all of the materials submitted by each applicant will be hosted on the City’s ADU Library website here.

Competitors will compete for cash prizes of $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, and $1,500 for third place to present their best Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) designs. All prizes will be awarded by the City via check after the competition concludes.

The City is looking for several submittals and understands that some contestants may not have access to 3D rendering software. While 3D renderings will help the selection committee understand your design it is not a requirement for the competition.

The City has created a contact page for the competition and all inquiries can either be made on that page or by contacting Taylor Greenwell, Planning Director/Zoning Administrator, or Richard Downey, Assistant City Administrator, at 715-839-6092 or by email at taylorg@ci.altoona.wi.us or richardd@ci.altoona.wi.us

When evaluating area for an internal or attached, our typical unit of measurement for size is the building floor area. However, our code is specifying 800 feet as the max footprint of the building, which is based on the foundation. For setbacks we use the furthest out architectural element of the building. If that does not make sense or you have any other questions, please contact us!