Modular Construction: The Efficient Way To Build Your Hotel

While there are certainly a great number of ways hotel construction can be done, one of the most efficient hotel building methods today is modular construction.

One of the biggest reasons why hotel owners choose to build modular is its speed. Modular construction is faster than traditional construction methods and projects can be completed 30-50 percent sooner. The main reason for this is the efficiency of an assembly line. Each modular hotel section is completed in a highly controlled factory environment which has been specifically designed for maximum overall efficiency.

Another great benefit of modular construction for hotels is that there is a great deal of flexibility including a wide range of floor plans and layouts and interior and exterior finishes. A modular hotel building can be customized to meet each customer’s unique needs.

These are just a couple of the important reasons why modular building is a great option for anyone looking to build a hotel. Modular buildings are highly efficient and can be fully operational much faster than traditional construction methods.

Here’s how to build a 7½-story building in 7 months

People from real estate development company Daly Partners announced Thursday that they're putting up downtown Seattle's first modular apartment building.

The 7½- story project at 2217 Third Ave. will be done in just seven months. That’s about half the time it would take to construct a building of this size using conventional construction methods.

How will they do it? As this video from Charter Construction shows, it’s all about “modular stacking.” The action starts at about the one-minute mark.

Asking rents for the 49 units in the project, called ‘N’ Habit: Belltown, range from $1,175 for a 420-square-foot studio to $1,975 for a 725-square-foot loft, according to the project website.

There’s no parking for residents, though the building will have bicycle storage.

The Puget Sound Business Journal’s original post about the project talks about how two other Seattle apartment developers are using modular construction as well.

Source: Stiles, Marc. (August 16, 2013). Here’s how to build a 7½-story building in 7 months [Web log post]. Retrieved August 23, 2013, from  http://www.bizjournals.com

After Sandy, Modular Homes Hit the Beach

Factory-Built Housing Is Popping Up Since Superstorm

Emile Wamsteker for The Wall Street Journal
A summer resident of Seaside Heights, Margaret Organ, walks her two beagles, Samantha and Mimi, near one of Westrum Development Co.'s model homes. The company says it can build the homes in 28 days.

Builders of modular homes have long battled a perception in New Jersey and New York that their products were aimed at trailer parks, not charming beachfront communities. But since super storm Sandy smashed homes along the coast, some see an opening.

In the past few months, modular builders say they are seeing an uptick in demand that they hope will translate to long-term business, especially as new federal flood maps and insurance rates force more homeowners to elevate structures. Because many older beach bungalows won't survive being raised, those owners may choose to replace them with new, easy-to-produce modular homes that are fabricated in factories and shipped in sections to the building site.

Two days after Sandy struck, John Westrum, who has built modular homes primarily in Pennsylvania suburbs, took a helicopter ride to survey the devastation along the Jersey Shore and had an idea: He would take his prefab houses and put them on stilts.

Westrum Development's first elevated modular home is scheduled to open Saturday in Seaside Heights. The two-story, Cape Cod was assembled in 28 days after the local permits were secured and the land was cleared. Former telephone poles were used to lift the first floor about 10 feet above the ground.

Emile Wamsteker for The Wall Street Journal

Brian Warwick works in one of the elevated prefabricated model homes in Seaside Heights, N.J., that were built by Westrum Development.

Although made in Scranton and trucked to New Jersey in four parts, the homes looked typically suburban and had custom features, such as a deck and large windows. At least 40 people are interested in buying one, Mr. Westrum said. He hopes to build 3,000 on the Jersey Shore and "up and down the East Coast."

Architects said the modular-construction industry's improved quality control and ability to use materials in different ways have helped bring its buildings up to design standards in the city. "The day of modular housing is dawning in New York," said Rick Bell, executive director of the American Institute of Architects New York.

As money trickles in from insurance companies and government, a handful of modular homes on stilts are popping up in some communities in New Jersey, Long Island and Staten Island. Many can be made to evoke beachside bungalows or modernist vacation homes. That has helped allay concerns about identical rows of new, cheap-looking homes.

"It looks beautiful," said Anthony Rusciano, a local 51-year-old utility worker in Seaside Heights who is buying a three-bedroom modular home from Westrum for $179,000. "It went up so fast. I don't have the time or patience to deal with any of this stuff anymore.

Modular single-family homes aren't necessarily less expensive than traditional construction, but may save time because they can be built in the factory while owners are waiting for demolition and foundation work. Once the modules are built and transported to the city, it takes a day or two to bolt the pieces into place.

Emile Wamsteker for The Wall Street Journal

A worker at a home under stick-built construction in Seaside Heights.

Most of those who lost their home in New York City and Staten Island have yet to start rebuilding, so it is too early to tell if modular homes will be an important part of the rebuilding. New York City has been a tough market to crack because streets are too narrow to maneuver 14-foot wide homes, developers are unfamiliar with the method, and labor unions have resisted because their members are paid less for factory work.

At least 10 homeowners in Breezy Point are applying for permits for modular construction, according to Arthur Lighthall, general manager of the community co-op in Queens. One house was delivered this week.

"This is not a trailer park home. This is a well-designed manufactured home. Side by side to a stick-built home, unless you knew, it'd be hard pressed to figure out which one was which," Mr. Lighthall said.

But Gerry Romski, who was recently selected by the city to help residents of Breezy and the Rockaways develop new homes said he won't use modular construction due to concerns about quality, fire-resistance and sacrificing interior space to bulkier construction. "We're doing a typical stick-built construction, which we have been doing for the last 25 years," he said.

John Colucci, vice president of sales and marketing, Westchester Modular Homes Inc., said while New York remains a tough market, he had been building one to two houses a week since the spring for Sandy victims primarily in New Jersey and Long Island. Sales are up 80% over last year, he said, mostly due to Sandy.

Mr. Colucci, who lived many years ago on the Jersey Shore, said he had a "soft spot" for the wooden bungalows that passed between generations, but he hadn't seen demand to re-create the old.

"There's a certain nostalgia that in my opinion is going to be lost because of the storm. We've only had a select few come through and ask for bungalow-type housing. Now it's all about how much can I put into my beach home," he said, including roof decks, outside showers and vinyl siding that resembles cedar shakes.

Michael Fehling, a 55-year-old Island Park resident, and his wife, decided to build a modular home seven feet in the air after docks smashed into their 90-year-old wooden house. Their new home took about a week to build in the factory and was delivered from Pennsylvania a month ago. They plan to move in at the end of August, after contractors finish with touches such as radiant heat and fireplaces. He doesn't miss the old place.

"A house that's almost 90 years old, it's not going to have the insulation.It's not going to be built as strong. The house was always cold. The house wasn't level," he said. "With the breeze going through the whole house, I don't miss that."

—Josh Dawsey and Joe Jackson contributed to this article.

Souce: Kusisto, Laura & Haddon Heather (2013, August 16). After Sandy, Modular Homes Hit the Beach [Web log post]. Retrieved August 21, 2013, from http://online.wsj.com

Modular Home Trends in Today's Housing Market

Unlimited design options and flexibility are available with today’s modular homes. These homes are not only aesthetically appealing but are easier to heat, cool and maintain. As people become more concerned about the environment, many seek to reduce their environmental impact and carbon footprint. Modular housing gives consumer’s unparalleled choices in design and function, while remaining environmentally friendly. Modular homes can be constructed with a wood or steel frame. Here’s a look at the similarities and differences between steel frame construction and wood frame construction.

Over 50 years ago (after WWII,) steel framing became popular when returning GI’s needed homes for their families. During the last 20 years, the housing market has shown a renewed interest in steel framing. The same techniques that were used with wood were used with steel, and construction costs were about the same until recently. In the last few years wood has become more expensive and steel more affordable. Wood and steel are both highly recyclable, with wood products (including paper and paper board,) being recycled at a rate of 65 percent. Steel products have an overall recycling rate of 63 percent.

Although the same principles of building with wood apply to steel construction, they use different types of fasteners. Wood frames are nailed together while steel frames are fastened with sheet metal screws. Energy use is slightly higher in steel frame buildings because metal transfers cold and heat more readily than wood. However, steel framing is lighter yet stronger and more resistant to earthquakes, fire and pests. Ceiling joists made of steel can cover longer distances than wooden ones, but wood is easier to cut and install.

Because of the lighter weight of the material, modular housing built with steel frame construction is generally completed faster than housing built with wood. However, it is easier and less expensive to incorporate design details like higher pitched roofs, overhangs, interesting roof lines and dormers on wood frame buildings. The overall material costs for a steel frame building can be substantially more than wood frame costs but insurance and maintenance costs may be lower.

Choose a home in a style that you and your family will love, using either steel or wood frame construction. In today’s market, modular homes suit many tastes with their limitless design options, flexibility and affordability. Building a home is easy and fun when choices include the most contemporary and unique options.

Replacing ND Man Camps with Modular Structures

The Bakken oil boom has been a terrific boost to North Dakota's economy, but it has been a mixed blessing as Williams County regulators struggle with the burgeoning man camps that have sprung up to house oil workers. These temporary housing structures are of varying quality prompting county officials to find safer and more efficient living quarters that will continue to be useful once the population stabilizes.

Modular structures offer an excellent alternative to temporary man camps. They can be quickly moved into place as the need for workforce housing increases and relocated if needs change. Construction time is greatly minimized since site work and building construction occurs simultaneously. The modular units can function as stand-alone facilities or they can be combined and configured into large complexes or residential communities.

One of the best features of modular housing units and modular buildings is that they are flexible. They can be quickly disassembled and relocated as needs arise. This flexibility is perfect for county regulators in North Dakota because they can designate different locations for temporary housing to accommodate infrastructure and zoning needs, and the structures can be easily moved to the new location with little disruption to the environment or the workforce.

With the sudden and large influx of temporary workers, other infrastructure is essential, such as healthcare facilities for the workforce. Healthcare construction is often time consuming and costly. Modular medical buildings are gaining traction in North Dakota as quick and efficient solutions to this problem.

Structures can be custom designed or standard and may be used as an urgent care clinic or a modular hospital. Healthcare is the fastest growing segment of the modular construction market and manufacturers continue to design custom options to meet the needs of healthcare providers. The quality of these modular healthcare buildings is equal to that of traditional facilities and these units can serve as permanent structures as well.

Modular building manufacturers have made great strides in the past decades and today's modular housing units are aesthetically pleasing and integrate easily into traditional housing developments. As an added benefit, modular construction is intrinsically more environmentally friendly due to less waste in the building process and the reusable nature of the components. The benefits of modular buildings and modular housing structures offer a viable and efficient alternative to North Dakota temporary man camps.

CREW CAMPS: Managing the Temporary

Temporary housing has been a hot topic in northwestern North Dakota for several years as communities continually struggle to accommodate the thousands of new residents who have converged on the region to power the Bakken’s energy boom. Whether described as man camps, crew camps, workforce housing, or extended-stay hotels, temporary lodging has come to be viewed by some as a necessary evil that should exist only until permanent housing is built; others see it as the solution to what may be a long-term, but still temporary, population explosion.

As other counties throughout the region grapple with how to prepare for an onslaught of construction workers as large projects such as fertilizer plants and diesel refineries are built, the topic of temporary versus permanent housing is no longer just a Williston Basin issue. Do you encourage new developments with the hopes of attracting new permanent residents, or do you embrace temporary housing? If you allow temporary housing, how do you control the quality of the operations? It’s up to each county to determine regulations and housing strategies, but thanks to the last several years of boom times in western North Dakota, there are now examples for others to learn from.

Heart of the matter

Williams County, which includes the city of Williston, has had the often unenviable experience of being the epicenter of the largest oil boom of our time. For half a decade, the county has served as Ground Zero for magnificent growth, and all of its side effects. Crew camp lodges and RV parks of varying degrees of quality began springing up seemingly overnight as the boom began and provided shelter for workers when other housing wasn’t available. They have now become common sights along the roadways of Williams County, but county officials would prefer to limit, and eventually eliminate, temporary housing in favor of newly built permanent residences. In 2011, the county placed a moratorium on new temporary housing units while it evaluated options and growth patterns, allowing only those with previously approved permits to operate. After two years of deliberations, the commission recently decided to gradually phase-out existing temporary housing facilities. As part of the decision, RV parks in the county will be allowed to operate only until October 2014. Other temporary housing facilities must apply for conditional use permits and, if approved, will be allowed to operate until 2015.

Frustrating situation

For operators of temporary housing facilities, the county’s delayed decision making has meant two years of uncertainty and frustration. Target Logistics, the largest provider of turnkey workforce housing in the U.S., provides more than 4,000 beds in the state, about half of which are spread throughout seven facilities within Williams County. Travis Kelly, Target Logistics’ North Dakota region vice president, says that as a resident of Williston he understands the county’s desire to re-evaluate the housing situation and encourage permanent residents to join the community, but he is frustrated with the length of time the county took to make a decision and believes that eliminating temporary housing is not the most effective way to encourage workers to make the Williston Basin their permanent home.

“I understand the desire for growth in the community,” he says. “I get it. The more rooftops you get in, the more attractive of a community it is to bring in some of the larger department stores, which is going to enhance the quality of life and hopefully attract more families. But I think that’s going to happen naturally. You will attract some families to come here and make it home, it’s just not going to be at the scale the county would like.”

Of the more than 2,500 beds under Target Logistics roofs in Williams County, the number of vacant spaces at those facilities in mid-July numbered in the single digits. Target Logistics’ properties are consistently fully booked in the area but Kelly says he agrees with the county’s position that the market for temporary lodging in Williams County is fairly saturated, adding that if it were allowed to expand, Target Logistics would only add about 100 to 200 new beds in the Williston area. However, he emphasizes that the existing temporary housing serves a legitimate need, which will continue for several years, and offers more positives than negatives to the region. For example, while it is widely held that the Williston Basin boom will last for at least 20 years, should the boom suddenly go bust, temporary facilities are made to be moved and leave no lasting impact on the county’s infrastructure, whereas permanent housing would be vacated and left to the community to deal with. And while there may be a portion of workers who would like to obtain permanent housing, many of the region’s newcomers are working their way out of debt and need time to establish good credit history before they can qualify for financing to buy a home. “I think there are people who want to make this their home and be back together as a family, but it’s going to take a little more time,” he says. “You don’t crawl out of debt to purchase a home in 12 months.”

Kelly says another concern he has with the county’s phase-out plan is that there doesn’t seem to be a reasonable plan to accommodate residents of RV parks elsewhere when those camps are banned. “I think they’ve painted themselves into a corner somewhat in the fact that by the time the RVs have to go, those folks either have to buy a home, find an apartment to lease, or they’re just gone all together,” he says. “And we know that’s not going to happen. They’ll just find a better place to hide.”

Uncertain impacts

Will the hiding place become surrounding counties that do not have the same types of restrictions in place? That remains to be seen, but it is a likely possibility. Ray Pacheco, Williams County planning director, says he’s not sure what impact the county’s phase-out plan will have on bordering counties and that the counties have not worked together to develop to a regional plan. “County and city planners are so busy that it’s hard to get together and brainstorm or come up with solutions,” he says. “There are a lot of good things you can take from other counties. We just don’t have a lot of time to sit and chat.”

Pacheco says he hasn’t heard any complaints from temporary housing operators regarding the phase-out plan, but he also agrees that temporary facilities are a necessary solution to Williams County’s housing issues, at least for now. “Until housing prices and rent prices drop, it will be hard for a lot of these companies to kick their employees out in a sense and say, ‘Now you have to go find an apartment,’ when nobody can afford the rent,” he says. “Just because [apartments and houses] are available, it doesn’t mean these guys are going to rush in and rent them, especially if they’re trying to bring their families here. The prices are just way too high at this point.”

With available housing priced out of the individual buyer’s range and temporary housing options eliminated, Kelly suggests that the outcome will be hundreds of unregulated “mini-man camps” consisting of houses that have been purchased by oil companies and used to provide lodging for a handful of workers. “That’s not how you grow a community,” he says. “I think the misconception is that if the oil company buys the house they’ll have the guy’s family move up and live in the house. That’s just not going to happen.”

Different state, same situation

Communities within the Permian Basin of Texas have been dealing with oil booms and busts since the 1920s. Compared to the Williston Basin, communities there have more infrastructure in place to accommodate new cycles of activity, but despite decades of experience, they continue to confront housing shortages with each boom and utilize temporary housing, to some extent, to fill the gap. Guy Edwards, economic development director for the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, says access to affordable housing is the No. 1 problem in the region and he expects it will be several years before available housing meets demand. He anticipates that when the housing supply catches up to demand, not all workers will seek permanent housing and some may not qualify for financing, so temporary housing will continue to serve a purpose for those workers. Odessa requires building permits for all temporary housing facilities, including RV parks, but the county does not, so most of the temporary housing in the county is located outside of city limits, he says.

According to Pecos Mayor Venetta Seals, available housing in the tiny town has become nearly non-existent and rental prices have skyrocketed, making temporary housing a necessity. Neither Pecos nor its county has restrictions on temporary housing, however, “we really don’t want any more,” she says. Currently, Pecos has one 200-bed facility in town. Three others are located outside city limits. Illegally parked RVs, of which there are many, are a major issue for the townspeople. Seals says she agrees that workforce housing provides a temporary means to an end, but the city would prefer to encourage the development of permanent housing at the risk of overbuilding. While she initially voted to allow workforce housing within the city, she does not anticipate approving plans for additional temporary housing units to be built within city limits. “I don’t know that I’d really want another one because we need those plots for permanent housing,” she says.

Plan ahead

Williams County may not have had the luxury of preplanning for its population explosion and the pros and cons of temporary housing, but Kelly and Pacheco recommend that communities in our region that are able to prepare for a sudden influx of workers can learn from what the county has been through and use that experience to their advantage.

For example, Kelly recommends that communities invite operators to the table to discuss what is possible and what is not when it comes to temporary housing facilities. “Education is a big thing,” he says. “I love to meet with communities and help them out. I understand as a resident what I’d like to see and what I wouldn’t like to see, but I also know what’s feasible and what is not.” He also urges other communities to put ordinances in place ahead of time and to establish permit fees for temporary housing and collect those fees before facilities are built. “That’s one thing Williams County didn’t do and it allowed a lot of these people who didn’t have any desire to operate a camp to go through the permitting process, get it ready and then try to dump it off on a third party that has no real vested interest in it,” he says.

Pacheco says he is willing to speak with fellow planners who are confronting similar issues to try to help resolve issues they may be facing. “Getting out of the office is not always the easiest thing when you’re going 24 hours a day on a job, but somehow it needs to be done.” PB

Written By: Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business

Source: http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/15389/