Morgan Woods affordable housing development in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard has won the 2008 Urban Land Institute’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Award.

The award recognizes exemplary developments that meet workforce housing needs in high cost communities. Entries are judged on specific criteria including: extent of affordability, involvement of public/private partnership, energy cost savings, green construction and innovative building technologies that reduce cost and improve efficiency.

The Morgan Woods project is a 60-unit, 21-building rental community on 12 acres, and is an unprecedented example of a community-driven affordable housing effort. It is a cluster development project that addresses the critical need for affordable and workforce housing on the Island. The project used innovative, custom-designed modular housing to offset the high cost of new construction here and meet a construction schedule that needed to avoid the crush of summer ferry traffic.

Fred Morgan Jr., chair of the Edgartown Affordable Housing committee and longtime advocate for the project said, “This has been such a team effort. Everyone got what they wanted. This has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.”