Crews guided prefabricated wall panels into place Tuesday near Sumner High School in St. Louis's The Ville neighborhood, assembling the first house in a pilot program meant to bring new construction to lots that have sat empty for years. A crew member with Module Building Systems worked the panels into position as the first modular home began taking shape, with officials saying they hope to replicate the approach in other parts of the city that need housing.
The build is part of a broader effort to put vacant, publicly controlled land back to use, according to STLtoday.com, which reported on Tuesday's assembly. The pilot traces back to a resolution the St. Louis Development Corporation brought to its board in December, seeking approval to select a modular housing developer for North St. Louis. The agency's own announcement described building at least 10 houses on 3-to-5-acre sites between the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Aldine Avenue, funded with $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, in an area hit by the May 16 tornado — though SLDC noted at the time that the exact sites were subject to change.
A Discrepancy Over How Many Homes Are Planned
Accounts of the project's scale don't fully line up. The St. Louis American reported that SLDC had approved a pilot bringing about 10 new homes to empty lots, while Module Building Systems, the firm selected for the work, states on its own website that the city picked it through an Infill Housing RFP to build 15 single-family and row homes on city-owned lots in The Ville. Module Building Systems also has a $4 million New Markets tax credit allocation.
Whatever the final count, the designs themselves are consistent across sources. The company has named the two housing types for the project The Malone and The Malone Rowhomes, both three-bedroom infill designs, and says the first wall panels are on the production line. The homes are meant to go up on permanent foundations and meet local building codes, the St. Louis American reported, with eligibility aimed at households earning less than 80% of the area median income.
Factory-Built, Not a Manufactured Home
Module Building Systems is careful to distinguish its product from a trailer or prefab box. The finished building is stick-built, not a modular box or a manufactured home, the company says, describing its process as delivering a flat-pack of modular panels and engineered wood that's assembled on site. Construction is likely to be sited between the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Aldine Avenue, though that location remains subject to change.
City officials have pointed to speed as one of the pitches for going modular. Construction completed off-site can shave weeks off a build by reducing exposure to weather delays, with homes potentially finished in months rather than the better part of a year, according to the St. Louis American. Module Building Systems has claimed schedules up to 50% faster than traditional methods, though it notes results depend on project conditions.
Housing North of Delmar
The Ville project fits into a wider push to rebuild housing stock north of the Delmar Divide.
Back in The Ville, the project remains in its early stages, with Tuesday's assembly marking the visible start of construction on the ground. Officials have said they hope the model can be repeated in other St. Louis neighborhoods facing similar housing needs, though how many homes will ultimately rise on Aldine Avenue, and when they'll be ready for occupants, is not yet settled.
