Cleveland Selects Finalists for Modular Home Building Facility, Acquires Site for Project

A rendering of what a new modular home may look like when set up in Clark-Fulton or Buckeye in the next year or two. Credit: City of Cleveland

They’re supposedly cleaner to build. They’re cheaper to build. And in a city with an affordable housing crunch, Mayor Justin Bibb thinks they can be gamechangers.

Modular homes, pre-built houses often confused with mobile homes, will soon be constructed at a factory on the former General Electric site in Collinwood, the city announced Tuesday. The site was acquired by Cleveland through its new Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund, which aims to transform unused plots into economic engines.

Four finalists were just chosen to prove their quality, the city said: Module, ModDSys/Container Homes USA, ZennieHome and Guardian Structural Technologies will all be constructing “pilot” homes in Clark-Fulton or Buckeye.

“This factory will not only deliver high-quality, affordable housing at scale,” Brad Whitehead, managing director of the fund, said in the press release, “it will create high-quality jobs, strengthen local supply chains, and breathe new life into a cornerstone of the Collinwood neighborhood.”

The decision to build on the former General Electric site comes seven months after City Hall began its search for a company to lead the modular home building effort.

“Each of these finalists brings a serious interest in Cleveland, not just as a market, but as a place to invest, build, and hire,” Jeff Epstein, the city’s Chief of Integrated Development, said in the release. “In addition to creating housing opportunities, this administration is fully committed to implementing new pathways for innovation, driving economic growth, and revitalizing our neighborhoods.”

Mayor Justin Bibb’s faith that modular homes could tackle rising home costs and the indirect influence of predatory landlords lies in the reality that modular homes are cheaper to buy and often constructed—in an off-site factory—in a third of the time Ryan Homes or Drees might take.

And to build 5,000 of them, which is Bibb’s goal.

Last year, Habitat For Humanity, the nonprofit that’s been building modular homes in the past few years, announced it would be finishing nine houses for sale—four in Detroit-Shoreway and five in Cudell. The city has spent $1.7 million so far on its partnership with HFH, according to Signal Cleveland’s ARPA Tracker.

Cleveland will select from one of the four finalists by the end of this year. By early 2026, 20 modular homes will be built in St. Clair-Superior and Hough neighborhoods to gauge market interest and performance. And construction on the facility will begin in 2027.