Lecture Recap and Video: Kendra Hyson on Ensuring Equity and Building Community

The Colorado River is the backbone of water management in the southwest, serving seven states and Mexico. Ongoing drought conditions that are linked to climate change threaten Colorado River water deliveries to Arizona, but also provide an opportunity to rethink the allocation of water rights and to focus on a more sustainable approach to management.

In November, Associate Professor Teresa Rosano received two top honors at the 2025 AIA Arizona Design Awards: the Architects Medal and a Community Design Award for a student-led capstone project. The recognized project—the Tucson Hope Factory Micro Shelter Village—aims to support unhoused communities in Southern Arizona through a collaborative, student-designed micro-shelter prototype.

In this panel discussion, we will explore the impact of Arizona’s construction defect liability laws on multifamily development, with a particular focus on possible legislative reforms to better balance buyer protections with development costs. While construction defect liability laws provide important protections for buyers, there is a growing concern among researchers and housing advocates that, if overly restrictive, these laws can increase development costs and lower production.