Colorado officials are looking at producing —Ready made houses that’s typically constructed in a factory and later assembled on site.
In an effort to make more inexpensive housing quicker , They also want them built in Colorado state itself.
Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado’s economic development office and the state housing financing authority this week announced loans for eight developers to build 4,755 modular homes annually across the state, including in Denver and Aurora.
The loans amount to nearly $38 million with below-market interest rates, state officials said.
The loans went to three longtime housing manufacturers in the state, two Colorado startups and three out-of-state recruits, state officials said. Together, the companies will create 1,280 jobs in Colorado.
Littleton-based Huron Components and California’s 3D home printer Azure Printed Homes will build units out of Denver, state officials said.
And Vederra Building Systems will redevelop a factory in Aurora to support building more energy-efficient modular homes, the company announced Friday.
The money for the loans came out of the Innovative Housing Incentive Program ($20 million) and the Affordable Housing Financing Fund ($18 million). The companies selected will build panelized homes, tiny homes, kit homes, and 3D-printed homes.
The state is grappling with high housing costs as most homes sold for more than $500,000 in January and nearly $600,000 in the metro Denver area, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors.
And the more-affordable option, modular homes, are more expensive in Colorado because a majority are made out of state.
About 88% of factory-built homes in 2022 came from outside of Colorado, according to state data.
The losses for Colorado are in the hundreds of million dollars from delivery costs, state revenue and potential jobs, according to the news release.
The cost of a modular home built outside of Colorado is 8% higher because of shipping.
Now, he said, Colorado is trying to catch up to demand.
Colorado modular homes made up 1.5% of the market, state data from 2022 shows, when the national average was 4%.
Huron Components got a loan worth $8 million to build 2,000 homes in a year out of the metro Denver area.
Azure Printed Homes, one of the first companies to 3D print homes with recyclable materials, received nearly $4 million to build more than 350 tiny homes out of the city of Denver, according to state officials. The company can bring its printing technology to smaller pop-up sites to build many homes near its destination.
“We look forward to robotically 3D printing our homes all year round in our uniquely efficient and sustainable way to make affordable housing a reality for more Coloradans, creating a more sustainable future for the state,” said Ross Maguire, Azure Printed Homes co-founder and CEO, in the release.
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