Email us at :
info@prehmail.com
Detroit may be most known for cars but, at one time, we produced more housing than any other city in the United States.
In 1910, and again prior to World War II, Detroit experienced significant economic and population growth that required massive housing development. Today, our pace of housing production has slowed dramatically – the Buildings, Safety, Environmental and Engineering Department (BSEED) has only issued roughly 500 permits for new single- or multi-family development in the last six years.
It’s no surprise, then, that 80% of the city’s housing stock was built before 1960.
I saw these impacts most acutely in 2022 when the Gilbert Family Foundation and Enterprise Community Partners launched the Detroit Home Repair Fund to support low-income homeowners with grants for critical repairs. Within one week, our hotline received 250,000 phone calls from families in need.
While it’s no consolation, Detroit is not alone.
Across the country, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of more than 7 million quality, affordable homes. Traditional stick-built construction is too slow to adequately address this crisis alone, so we must seek multiple out-of-the-box solutions.
Factory-built housing — another term for any type of home fully or partially constructed in a factory then transported to a site for assembly – is one tool to consider as we look to increase attractive, attainable housing stock for Detroiters.
If you are skeptical or worry that this housing is cheap or low-quality, I urge you to visit the seven new factory-built homes at the intersection of 16th and Perry in North Corktown. This development, supported by the Gilbert Family Foundation, was informed by deep community engagement led by the North Corktown Neighborhood Association. It is just one example of how the technology behind factory-built homes has come a long way in recent years.
There are a few benefits to factory-built housing.
First, construction is fast. While the average construction timeline of a traditional home is between seven and 12 months after land acquisition and permitting, the properties in North Corktown were ordered and built in only three.
Second, factory-built housing poses an opportunity for Detroit. As a major post-industrial city in the Midwest, Detroit stands to serve as a hub for developing and shipping factory-built housing across the region.
By embracing this technology, we can increase access to safe, living-wage, non-seasonal skilled-trades jobs for Detroiters.
Last, with scale, this technology can contribute to increased housing accessibility and affordability.
There is no silver bullet for quality, attainable housing, but Detroit residents deserve more than the status quo. As a city, we are known for creativity and innovation. Factory-built housing is one strategy to increase homeownership and position Detroit as a leader in housing production.
Detroit once put America in cars — now let’s put America in homes.
Laura Grannemann is executive director of the Rocket Community Fund and the Gilbert Family Foundation.
Owning a home is a keystone of wealth… both financial affluence and emotional security.