MAPC is partnering with Boston, Cambridge, Everett, and Newton on the project, which is focused on researching and advancing the idea of locating a modular housing manufacturing facility in Greater Boston. Modular or “offsite” construction can be defined as “the process of planning, designing, fabricating, transporting, and assembling building elements in a factory setting for rapid onsite assembly to a greater degree of finish than in traditional piecemeal onsite construction.”

“The Greater Boston region, despite its reputation for innovation, has not fully embraced modular and manufactured housing,” said MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen. “We are seeking to change that curve with this grant and hope to achieve two things that are equally important: more homes and good jobs. It’s important for our homes to be developed quicker, at a lower cost, and with exceptional quality. And we want people who live and work in this region to build and install those homes, which are currently imported from other states and provinces.”

In Massachusetts, multifamily housing construction costs are 20% higher than the national average, dampening the potential for private housing developers to produce both market-rate and affordable units. In Boston, the median time between permit application with the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department through project completion for all new residential construction projects is just shy of three years.

In its application, MAPC drew from recent research into opportunities for new construction technologies from the City of Boston’s Housing Innovation Lab; the agency also worked with the City and other partners to outline a vision to address three of the most significant barriers to the production of new affordable housing units in the Greater Boston region: high construction costs; time to construct new housing; and local opposition to new construction projects. Through locally led working groups, MAPC will develop a regional strategy to research and incentivize the use of innovative offsite construction methods (as opposed to traditional, wood, and steel frame construction), which will help lower the cost of new housing. MAPC will also seek to address obstacles to offsite construction, including potential updates to land use policies and opportunities to generate jobs in the manufacturing sector.

"This support from HUD will allow us to work effectively together as a region to strategically support an innovative method of housing production that we hope will make possible the ability to build homes faster and cheaper," said Paige Roosa, director of Boston's Housing Innovation Lab. "We’re eager to work with our three neighboring cities to pursue this opportunity and ensure that this effort creates housing and jobs for Bostonians.”

Through the PRO Housing grant, MAPC will use the research and recommendations from the working groups to prepare a solicitation that may include, but is not limited to, seed funding for a manufacturing facility, land, specialized financing arrangements, details about a development pipeline, and expedited permit pathways.

“With a regional approach, we will effectively tackle one of the main barriers to the widespread use of offsite construction in the Greater Boston area: the lack of a manufacturing facility near cities and towns in the state where housing is most needed,” said Andrea Harris-Long, AICP, manager of housing and neighborhood development at MAPC. “Extensive engagement with subject matter experts and stakeholders has revealed that significant transportation and logistical challenges are the primary barriers to the use of offsite construction around Greater Boston. We need more regional manufacturing facilities to see modular benefits.”

“There’s not one quick fix to solve the housing crisis but this is an incredibly important step. One of the biggest challenges to the economics of building more housing in Cambridge is high construction costs. We need to find more innovation and efficiency in how we build and modular is an exciting opportunity for the entire region,” said Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria added, “The ability to pay for housing is the greatest fear residents across the Commonwealth face today. All levels of government have to work together to address a problem of this size, scale, and complexity because of the number of families impacted. A partnership like this one involving HUD, federal and state elected officials, a regional agency, and municipal governments is critical if we are going to find meaningful solutions. We need to find more options and there is a real opportunity here to make important progress towards achieving true affordable housing by taking a deep dive into the feasibility of manufactured homes in Massachusetts to help lower construction costs while also providing full-time employment options with competitive wages and benefits in the industry for our residents.”

Mayor DeMaria continued by stating, “I am proud of the work we have accomplished to make Everett one of the communities in Massachusetts with the highest levels of new transit-oriented housing being created and we need to continue our progress to remove remaining barriers to housing production to create more units. I commend MAPC for their work in securing this HUD Pro Housing grant and am proud to have signed on to support their efforts.”

“Newton is excited to be on the cutting edge of driving down the cost, increasing the speed and providing high quality modular housing. We have top notch, collaborative partners in Boston, Cambridge, Everett and MAPC in untying the Gordian knot of pre-manufactured housing and the modular housing industry in Massachusetts,” said Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

MAPC has expertise in the industrial / manufacturing sector and recently completed a baseline study, “Land, Economy, Opportunity: Industrial Land Supply and Demand for Greater Boston,” which assessed industrial space supply, vacancy rates, rents, and projected demand and will serve as a starting point to identify suitable sites for a new manufacturing facility. In addition, the agency has studied retail strip parcels that would be great for redeveloping more dense housing options and a mixture of uses with improved connectivity.