Legoland Model for Building Real Homes? Looks Like It’s Here.

The American Housing Corporation is a new company. Its plan is to make and sell manufactured townhomes in popular U.S. cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, and New York.

The idea is to supply mass-produced yet appealing row houses made of components that can be shipped in a flat form: stairs, floors and ceilings, roofs, and wall panels with electric wires built in. Once trucked to construction sites, they can be put together like Lego building blocks.

According to CEO Riley Meik—an engineer who founded a rocket-launching business—this can be done at less than half the cost of building homes on site.

With Building Costs Rising, New Methods and Materials Are in Demand

Buyers can’t afford most homes where they really want to live. Prices are bloated by tariffs and worker shortages due to current immigration policies. As for inflation, there’s the ever-rising cost of obtaining the basic construction materials needed for homebuilding.

The increasing severity of storms, winds, floods, fires, and temperature extremes isn’t making the cost problem any easier. It only pushes up the demand for materials and work crews—in turn, pushing prices higher. The costs of shipping and imported materials are much higher today than at any time in recent memory. Smaller builders may simply be priced out of the market, unable to compete. This isn’t getting any easier, either. The cost of materials for building homes has increased by 6.7% year over year, according to a survey cited by Realtor.com®.

Because these costs get passed along to the customer, new construction can be hard to sell to the average home seeker. Builders now hesitate to carry out projects if there are no buyers ready and waiting.

The American Housing Corporation had to find ways to overcome all these hurdles.

The company’s method will use inexpensive materials that lend themselves to an automated manufacturing process. Introducing robotics into home manufacturing can simplify the task of supplying markets with affordable products that meet high quality-control standards.

With the American Housing Corporation, the cost of on-site work can be a mere tenth of the labor costs typical of building a conventional townhome. This slashes housing construction costs. And the magnesium oxide panel boards, reinforced with fiberglass, are relatively inexpensive. Yet they’re very durable and also insulate well—helping to cut electricity costs.

Actual building expenses will vary by market and by the dynamics of supply and demand. It’s cheaper to work in some areas of the country than in others. This reality holds true no matter what method a builder may be using.

Automating Home Building: Realtor.com Sees a Trend in the Making

Chris Olfers at Realtor.com® interviewed Riley Meik, the company’s CEO, about a trend that could find its footing in the U.S. market. The conversation turned to inefficiencies in homebuilding overall.

Meik sees these inefficiencies as perpetuating costly design and building methods. Housing quality has not been improving, says Meik, but the expenses that go into housing just keep rising.

Meik points to all the robotics and automation that have transformed factory production over the past few decades. Our electronic devices, appliances, and vehicles of all kinds—all are largely put together by machines. Homes aren’t as structurally complicated. Yet their construction relies on the presence of on-site workers. Engineering, says Meik, could help us find our way out of the housing affordability crisis.

Here’s a tour of a prototype of the townhomes, led by CEO Riley Meik.

Magnesium oxide has high fire resistance, and the walls are resistant to wind. With climate concerns becoming a top priority, American Housing Corporation homes may become all the more appealing.

Adding to the modern feel of the townhomes’ design, the pieces lock together with rivets, not screws. The new homes will be soundproof, which is a boon in tight spaces. The ceiling and wall surfaces are elegant and strong enough to support décor as well as audio-video systems.

Hot Market Relief: Building Homes Where People Want to Buy

Riley Meik and American Housing Corp. have big plans to create “missing middle” homes that fit. They’ll be building three-story homes on small parcels of land. They’ll be freestanding homes. But they’ll have no sprawling lawns or oversized driveways. They’ll be trend-setting buildings with old-time prices, tucked into the most attractive cities in the nation.

Meik says Los Angeles County has plenty of parcels zoned for multiple units—but often the owners build only a single house. This is typical in many cities and towns.

But the company has already found areas to work with in Austin. That’s where the company is headquartered. Leading the real estate acquisition division for AHC is Bobby Fijan, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who has experience in office-to-residential conversions.

Helpfully, Austin allows three homes on each residential lot. And the permit process is efficient. Austin’s approach to zoning and permits is exactly what’s needed for Meik’s concept to flourish.

The first phase is underway as the company raises funds to build a factory that can produce 1,200 townhouses a year. “We manufacture every major component in our own factories,” explains the company’s website, “using custom machines and tools engineered to automate production and ensure consistent quality.”

By creating homes that appeal to younger generations of homebuyers, the company’s leadership aims to “make it as easy as possible for cities and neighborhoods” to welcome the concept and the company. According to the company, this welcome is just the start. American Housing Corporation architects intend to “define the look and feel of the new generation of the American Rowhome.”

So, potential Austin deed holders, watch this space. The company says an announcement is coming later this year.

Note to our readers: We hope you enjoyed this article. Deeds.com has no affiliation or connection, financial or otherwise, with any company mentioned here. While we follow trends in the industry (particularly when they bring opportunities to potential deed holders!), we do not make claims about specific builders or real estate companies. This article is for educational purposes and is not a review or recommendation.