MML Review Magazine July/August/September 2024

MODULAR CONSTRUCTION

“ We have an opportunity to think about how to solve our housing crisis at scale with our state's well-established legacy of industrial innovation. ”

Hurdles to Adoption As much as modular makes sense for Michigan given our state’s industrial legacy, the challenge is in thinking innovatively about the built environment. State and local leadership haven’t placed sustainable urbanism front and center as our state struggles to retain population as people move to more prosperous places with better infrastructure. In addition, skepticism abounds among real estate developers. The major value proposition of modular is that modular projects can usually be built with a higher cost certainty (lower possibility of overruns that seem ubiquitous these days) and a shorter timeline (construction delays are also universal these days owing to a combination of labor and supply chain problems). But many builders say that while the shorter timeline is appreciated, modular doesn’t always cost less. The last point here is worth looking at. There is usually a hefty cost premium attached to contractors, construction

managers, and building trades working with technology or products they’re less familiar with. Learning curves can be steep, and this often translates to cost. We have an opportunity to think about how to solve our housing crisis at scale with our state’s well-established legacy of industrial innovation. I’m confident that we can one day rebuild a legacy of urban innovation as well, and modular construction is a potentially valuable part of that puzzle. But it will require political will and collaboration across municipal, private, and nonprofit sectors to do it. Entities like the Michigan Municipal League can provide valuable resources in this regard, whether it involves converting their pattern housing book into a modular product or facilitating statewide collaboration on issues around housing innovation. Nat M. Zorach, AICP, MBA is an engagement manager with ADL Ventures. You may reach him at 717-715-7783 or nathaniel@adlventures.com.

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| Summer 2024