Seven stories. Twenty-eight individual housing units. Thirty-seven thousand square feet. Fifty-six modules “stacked” in nineteen days.

Photo collage image credits Gluck+ MBI.

Quality, speed and affordability were all factors cited by developers and planners for “The Stack,” located at 4857 Broadway in New York City, NY.

Jeffrey Brown, CEO Jeffrey M Brown and Associates, LLC said they tried to use the property as efficiently and completely as possible. The project has attracted positive attention, including being honored by the Modular Building Institute (MBI) as their project of the month for August 2014. In many ways, “The Stack” echoes what The Boston Globe editorialized in favor of just weeks ago.

Deluxe Building Systems, Inc. of Berwick, Pennsylvania was the builder and Broadway’s Stack design was by architecture firm Gluck+ of New York. MBI told MHLivingNews that developers estimated they saved 6-8 months in construction time, and some 15-20% on costs on the roughly 7 million dollar project.

 

The Stack Time Lapse Video.

Todd Kessler, President of U.S. Modular praised the project as “a phenomenal accomplishment,” and the firm hailed the work of their industry colleagues as a fine example of why factory building is here to stay.

MBI stated:

“Its speedy construction and cost-savings for the developer is a potential solution to NYC’s growing housing problem. The Stack is being marketed as housing for “moderate income” families. Additionally, six of the 28 apartments were reserved for affordable housing for families who met certain income and household size requirements. Architect Gluck+’s website reads “[The Stack] is a pilot project for developing a quality and economically viable housing solution to strategically rebuilding and filling gaps in outmoded housing infrastructure.” Future projects like this one may even have a shorter timeline as these processes become more conventional.”

In commercial or multifamily building, time is money, and getting the final product to market faster is another key advantage. So even when costs may seem roughly similar, the savings on carrying charges and accelerating the process of bringing the homes to market are all important factors for developers to consider.

A still frame from the time lapse video in this report.

MBI stated that as these processes become more mainstream, the savings achieved over conventional construction should grow.

With much of America’s population being urban, modular infill building should become more appealing to city planners and developers alike. This is just one of the many appealing, evolving faces of off-site, “pre-fabricated” home building. ##

By L. A. “Tony” Kovach