Modular home industry could provide valuable jobs for Greater Cleveland, address housing need

Jun 21, 2024

Op-Ed by Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh, published by Cleveland.com

The most impactful economic development story in Ohio history, was the announcement in 2022 by the Intel corporation that they would be locating a massive chip factory outside of Columbus, in Licking County. This facility, when completed, will be the largest chip manufacturer in the country. It will employ over 3000 people with an average annual salary of $150,000.

The impact on that region will be enormous and will ultimately bring $20 billion in development to that area. Not all communities were able to put together a site and an economic development package to compete for this new facility. Sadly, Cleveland and Northeast Ohio did not submit a bid.

Incredibly, the story of why Intel came to Ohio has to do with a Lorain city councilwoman named Mary Springkowski. In April of 2021 councilman Springkowski wrote a letter to the Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, urging him to take a look at Lorain as a place to locate a chip manufacturing facility.

Ultimately, Intel decided not to go to Lorain but Columbus -- in part because they were able to offer a 1500-acre site Intel needed. But when they made their announcement in Ohio, they acknowledged Mary Springkowski as the catalyst for the move.

Cleveland and Cuyahoga County leaders should write a letter of their own to the largest modular housing builders in America and urge them to take a closer look at Cleveland as a site for one of their facilities.

Why?

Cuyahoga County and primarily Cleveland have over 30,000 vacant lots. If you extend that search for vacant lots to Akron, Canton, Lorain, Elyria, Youngstown and Warren that number approaches 70,000 vacant — and mostly buildable lots.

Add those vacant lots to the desperate need for affordable housing in our communities and a significant opportunity emerges.

“Stick builders”, or traditional homebuilders cannot meet our needs. They will acknowledge that. But modular housing, homes built offsite in a factory setting and reassembled on site, have not gained much traction in Northeast Ohio.

I worked on the first modular housing project in Cleveland. Five units were built on Fenwick Avenue on the West Side and all sold for less than $300,000.

Habitat for Humanity has ordered 19 of these homes and hopes to have them all in place by the end of the year. The Habitat order, when completed this year will actually more than triple the number of modular homes currently located in Cleveland, Ohio.

Modular housing has not caught on in the United States the way it has in parts of Europe and Japan. Currently, modular builders supply less than 3% of the new housing constructed annually in this country. This is hard to understand because the quality of these homes is exceptional. These houses are built in indoor, climate-controlled facilities. The workmanship is exceptional. But we have had a hard time accepting factory-built housing as a viable alternative.

We need to change that mindset, especially if we want to ramp up the supply of new and affordable housing in our region.

The modular housing industry employs tens of thousands of people in facilities all over the country, but none close to our region. Champion homes has a large facility in eastern Indiana 220 miles from Cleveland. One well established Ohio homebuilder, Unibilt is in Vandalia, Ohio, approximately 210 miles from Cleveland.

The modular housing industry employs tens of thousands of people in facilities all over the country, but none close to our region. Champion homes has a large facility in eastern Indiana 220 miles from Cleveland. One well established Ohio homebuilder, Unibilt is in Vandalia, Ohio, approximately 210 miles from Cleveland.

There is a slew of smaller modular homebuilders in eastern Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. But their distance from Cleveland has required that these units travel long distances to Cleveland. That distance leads to additional costs, wear and tear, and potential damage to the units as they make this long trip.

A very important effort is underway right now at the Site Readiness Fund to look for a modular factory building site. The effort is also identifying potential customers, financial incentives, and will ultimately result in a letter reaching out to the largest modular home builders in the country, asking them to come to Cleveland.

We should support this effort wholeheartedly.

If Cleveland is ever going to make a dent in the supply of affordable housing, we need to look at modular and manufactured, and not by bringing in units from hundreds of miles away. This facility should be in Cleveland, employing Clevelanders and building homes for Cleveland neighborhoods.

Let’s write that letter, the same kind of letter that Mary Springkowski wrote but with a different focus.

We can do this.