Local Architecture Firm Opens $20K Grant Application for Nonprofits

Community nonprofits looking to expand their services have a unique opportunity this month. The Michael Hsu Office of Architecture – the firm behind a slew of iconic Austin buildings – is accepting design proposals and will grant one winner $20,000 in pro bono consultation.

"A lot of these nonprofits are having a hard time finding affordable space," MHOA principal and founder Hsu said. "And there's all sorts of challenges in trying to build something even if they do find a space because it's so time-intensive. There's a lot of hidden costs, and part of this [partnership] is our hope to just be a guide to help demystify what they can do on a certain site to meet their mission."

MHOA has its fingerprints all over Austin – they designed South Congress Hotel, P. Terry's flagship, and the Waterloo Park Family Pavilion, among others – and won the 2022 Texas Society of Architects Design Award. MHOA opened their second annual Design for All Partnership applications in late March, with a May 19 deadline for nonprofits in the Austin and Houston areas, where the firm's offices are located.

Hsu, a Houston native who earned his architecture degree from UT-Austin, views the partnership as a "seed program," adding that the pro bono services don't necessarily end with the $20,000 grant because MHOA can also help promote the recipient through press and fundraising. "We don't even have to be the architect that goes and executes the project," he said. "It's really like, 'Here's what we can do for you, and you can go forward and make your own decision.'"

Last year's recipient, the Austin Angels group, built a community welcome center on part of a 2½-acre former church facility in Buda to support children and families in foster care. Hsu said they're targeting "small but not tiny" nonprofits that are ready to build but could use some help.

Eligible organizations must be registered as a 501(c)(3) within 50 miles of the Austin or Houston metropolitan areas. Consultation services could include site analysis, feasibility studies, master planning, site planning, conceptual design, and architectural and interior design consultation. Master planning projects should be for 50-acre sites or smaller, and architecture or interior design projects should be less than 20,000 square feet.

Hsu said, "One of the reasons we're interested in jobs like this is as real estate gets more and more expensive, how can we at least try and help some people to seed or stay in town, so they can be closer to the communities that they're serving?"