Fading West, a Colorado-based modular housing company was established in 2016 in Buena Vista, Colorado. It’s changing the face of affordable home ownership. The firm has a long commitment to producing affordable housing for the workforce in rural and alpine areas. Since its launch, it has blown the doors off of its original scope. The company operates a large, 110,000-square-foot manufacturing facility focused on the production of modular homes. It supports 110 non-union factory employees and 50 administrative staff and general contractors.
The company uniquely provides a wide variety of home designs within their eco-friendly portfolio. You can go high-end with multi-million-dollar, 3,000-square-foot, five-bedroom McMansions or low-end, 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom starter models. Fading West proudly claims that the shipping container home’s incorporation of lean manufacturing principles saves as much as 20% in construction costs. At the same time, they provide completed homes in half the time of conventional, on-site building practices. Through this innovation, DOMA supports the urgent efforts to find affordable housing solutions in all communities.
Fading West’s small-factory setup lends itself to a streamlined production process. Workers stand on air casters to lift the major modular units just off the factory floor. This provides for fluid transport of students between 18 unique work stations every four hours. Each station is assigned to one building component, simplifying structure assembly while reducing material waste in the process.
“All of that leads to a more sustainable, less expensive, better-built product,” said Jordon Rogove, a representative of Fading West.
The company’s accomplishments go well beyond the usual hot housing markets. Fading West originally set out to produce community-themed clusters of modular houses for gig workers in mountain towns and ski resorts such as Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail. Further, the organization has played a key role in pursuing disaster relief. Their recently completed project in Lahaina, Maui was a historical achievement for the company. They quickly delivered modular homes to provide more temporary housing for disaster survivors.
As an example of the community’s potential and intent, Fading West’s Kilohana development is a noteworthy accomplishment. It was the first time FEMA provided people who were displaced by a disaster modular homes instead of trailers for temporary housing. This unique approach is a testament to Fading West’s passion for delivering dignified housing solutions to people impacted by natural disasters.
Even with a $50 million dollar business, Fading West is still small potatoes in the construction industry—which is where the big firms typically reside. Unlocking next industry statistics show that as little as 3% to 5% of new single-family homes in Colorado are factory-built. This figure counts modular alternatives here too though. This is a big deal and definitely highlights the room for expansion within the modular housing industry.
The company’s founders initially had modest aspirations. Eric Schaefer, one of the co-founders, explained their early vision: “We came into business with very small aspirations.” Soon enough, they learned that creating affordable new homes was impossible. The scarcity of general contractors and subs in the region made that impossible.
“Where we see ourselves as disruptors is our value engineering, speed, high-quality and architecturally interesting designs,” Schaefer added. It’s this perspective that fuels Fading West’s work to disrupt traditional construction models and deliver affordable housing to the communities that need it most.
With projects underway in states such as Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Texas, and New Mexico, Fading West is poised for continued growth. The progressive move to modular construction is just one possible answer to the persistent lack of affordable housing plaguing cities and towns across the country.
Michael Neal, an industry expert, noted that “site-built, stick-built building, particularly on the single-family side, hasn’t experienced much productivity gains in the aggregate over the last few decades.” This standstill makes well-timed the emergence of modular housing as a solid option. Neal further remarked that “maybe modular is how affordable housing is reached,” indicating a growing recognition of the method’s potential benefits.