Close Menu
    Trending
    • Here’s What It Really Takes to Support Other Entrepreneurs
    • Resuscitated human retinas respond to light 10 hours after death
    • Map: 3.5-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Central California
    • Ukraine & Zelensky’s Ultimate Corruption
    • John Stamos Reveals Why He Will ‘Never’ Be On ‘DWTS’
    • Nominations open in the contest to be UK leader, with Andy Burnham likely the only candidate
    • Former US Olympian pleads not guilty in DC reflecting pool vandalism case | Donald Trump News
    • Insider reveals LeBron James’ potential decision date
    Benjamin Franklin Institute
    Thursday, July 9
    • Home
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Science
    • Technology
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • International
    Benjamin Franklin Institute
    Home»Opinions»Opinion | Tom Steyer’s Plan to Fix Modular Housing
    Opinions

    Opinion | Tom Steyer’s Plan to Fix Modular Housing

    Team_Benjamin Franklin InstituteBy Team_Benjamin Franklin InstituteMay 12, 2026No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Copy Link LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte Telegram
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Copy Link


    For us to drive down the cost per square foot of housing to a place where we can afford to build these houses and people can afford to buy them, we’re going to have to make some real changes in the way we’re going about this. We are building houses and we are building apartment buildings the way we have been doing it for 100 years. And there is new technology to do this, where you basically construct, manufacture the parts of the house off-site, the way you’d construct or manufacture a car, and then you assemble it on-site. And the estimates that people have, both from the real world of having done it but also projecting what they think they could do, start at 20 percent, and they go up from there. And these are real things. And these are companies that are, like, manufacturing companies. So therefore they need revenues and orders. And the State of California can do that, and it can change the building codes. But I want to jump in on modular for a minute. Modular housing has been promised and hoped for a long time. A lot of politicians have hyped it up. Investors have invested in it and been disappointed. The big companies in the space have often failed. Katerra raised $2 billion in private capital, went bankrupt. Veev failed. Integra failed. Factory OS, which is the biggest one in California, was recently rebranded and recapitalized. So this is pretty central to the way you think about housing. Why do you think it will be different? Why do you think they failed, actually? And what have you learned that would make it different now? Well, let me say this. There is a reason they failed. And there’s a reason that most start-ups fail, Ezra, which is they don’t have revenues and they don’t have orders. And the answer is the State of California can change the building codes, the State of California can give those orders, and we can actually drive this business so that, in fact, not only do they do what they say they can do, but they can get economies of scale, going forward, to get the kind of size that it needs so that we can really get what they say they can do, because the estimates right now are we can drive down the cost per square foot by 20 percent. But I can tell you, because I’ve talked to them, that the people who run these companies see that as a first step, and they can think they can go much further than that. And let me say this: There are 40,000 units in San Francisco, Calif., that are permitted, that are zoned, that are not being built because they can’t afford to build them to a price that people can afford to buy them. So it’s really — getting this right is a critical part of the mix.



    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email Telegram Copy Link

    Related Posts

    Opinions

    Opinion | Trump and the Democrats: 13 Black Democratic Voters Discuss

    July 8, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | 13 George Washington Interpreters on Embodying an Icon

    July 2, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | Why Democrats Need a Politics of Joy

    June 23, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | The Radical Act of Enjoying This Life

    June 22, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | Will the Real JD Vance Please Stand Up?

    June 20, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | What Makes JD Vance Tick?

    June 20, 2026
    Editors Picks

    Billie Eilish Flaunts Results Of Fitness Journey In Plunging Top

    May 19, 2026

    Huge crowds throng Tehran for Khamenei funeral ceremonies

    July 4, 2026

    Winners, losers from Game 5: Hurricanes stars arrive just in time

    June 12, 2026

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,038 | Russia-Ukraine war News

    December 28, 2024

    James Harden leads Cavs to OT win on monumental night

    May 14, 2026
    About Us
    About Us

    Welcome to Benjamin Franklin Institute, your premier destination for insightful, engaging, and diverse Political News and Opinions.

    The Benjamin Franklin Institute supports free speech, the U.S. Constitution and political candidates and organizations that promote and protect both of these important features of the American Experiment.

    We are passionate about delivering high-quality, accurate, and engaging content that resonates with our readers. Sign up for our text alerts and email newsletter to stay informed.

    Latest Posts

    Here’s What It Really Takes to Support Other Entrepreneurs

    July 9, 2026

    Resuscitated human retinas respond to light 10 hours after death

    July 9, 2026

    Map: 3.5-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Central California

    July 9, 2026

    Subscribe for Updates

    Stay informed by signing up for our free news alerts.

    Paid for by the Benjamin Franklin Institute. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
    • Privacy Policy
    • About us
    • Contact us

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.