Mosaic, a modular home company with a Vail connection, hosts Polis for innovative housing bill signing

Mosaic-Housing, a Grand Junction modular home factory with a Vail connection, issued the following press release on Friday after a housing bill signing by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis at its facility. Vail’s Ted Steers is Mosaic’s executive vice president and director of sales and marketing:

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – May 20, 2022 – On this cool, crisp May morning, Gov. Polis, along with many other statewide elected officials, gathered at the future site of Mosaic-Housing’s modular home factory to sign House Bill 22-1282, the Innovative Housing Incentive Program, into law.   

The program allows a Colorado-based business that manufactures certain types of housing to apply for funding. Funding can go to manufacturers such as Mosaic-Housing of Denver to incentivize modular housing that supports the state’s goals of affordability, energy efficiency and high quality. 

“We are grateful to Gov. Polis for choosing our 234,000-square-foot site that will be the future home of our modular home factory, in conjunction with apartments, townhomes, commercial, retail and hotel properties, for this momentous bill signing ceremony,” says Stuart Borne, Chief Executive Officer of Mosaic-Housing. 

Mosaic-Housing is building the country’s most efficient, state-of-the-art, automated modular home factory.  It will be the fastest, lowest-cost facility in the United States.  Modular construction can save 20 percent of the cost of construction, and the Mosaic factory is expected to produce 300 percent more modules than a similar-sized, traditional indoor construction factory, currently operating in the U.S.  The factory will also create 160 high-skilled jobs.

This carbon-neutral manufacturing factory, within a Grand Junction opportunity zone framework, will have the ability to produce 100 homes, 150 townhomes or an entire apartment building every single month.

Ted Steers, Mosaic Executive Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing, says: “We are very excited about what I view as a public-private venture where the opportunity for funding from the Innovative Housing Incentive Program will ensure that we can help manufacture and deliver much-needed safe and quality attainable housing for communities across the state.” Steers added that Mosaic Housing is in the process of raising the remaining equity from the private sector necessary to initiate construction of the facility.

The governor during his speech was graced by the backdrop of the Grand Mesa and the renderings of the Mosaic-Housing mega factory.  This undeveloped land is situated west of the Mesa Mall, along Highwat 6 and 50, and to the south of I-70, G Road and the Community Hospital.

Here’s a portion of a state press release on the housing bill signing:

Earlier today in Grand Junction, Gov. Polis signed the Innovative Housing Incentive Program (HB22-1282) into law, which invests in building more high-quality, affordable modular and 3-D printed homes. The bill was signed at the future site of Mosaic Housing’s construction factory, which will add local workers to the payroll to create housing opportunities at 20% lower costs for on-site construction on the Western Slope and for the deployment of modular homes to communities across the state.

Here’s what local officials and housing leaders are saying about the groundbreaking housing program: 

“A lack of affordable and attainable housing has become a crisis in many communities across Colorado, one that we are feeling acutely here in the Grand Valley. The only way to solve this problem is with the innovation our state is known for and we are thrilled to welcome this facility to our community and grateful to Colorado lawmakers for this Innovative Housing Incentive Program bill that will help stand up these units and begin to close the housing gap,” said Mayor Anna Stout, City of Grand Junction.

“Housing affordability is a critical issue for communities across Colorado, including our own; this incentivization of innovative housing manufacturing methods will allow the public and private sector to work together on lowering the cost of housing for every Coloradoan,” said Mayor Pro Tem Abe Herman, City of Grand Junction.

“HB 1282 is truly transformational. Its impact in rebuilding the state’s manufactured housing industry will be significant.  Supporting the launch of new factories across the state will help counties like Summit build affordable and climate friendly housing quickly, which is so desperately needed, said Tamara Pogue, Summit County Commissioner & County Representative to the Affordable Housing Transformational Task Force.

“Colorado is experiencing a housing crisis which COVID 19 has amplified. We are at a crisis point where it will take not one creative solution but many to ensure that our Colorado neighbors can have a safe, affordable place to call home.  HB22-1282 is an important part of the creative solutions the state prioritized this year,” said Karen Kallenberg, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Colorado.

“As an organization using innovative housing solutions to increase the affordable housing stock, Habitat for Humanity of Colorado appreciates the state’s investment in HB22-1282.” “The Colorado Municipal League is pleased to see HB22-1282 signed into law. The League supported the legislation because it will provide multiple benefits to Colorado’s municipalities through job creation and increasing the supply of housing,” said Meghan Dollar, Legislative Advocacy Manager for Colorado Municipal League (CML).

“Modular and other innovative housing has the potential to fill a significant gap that we currently face in Colorado’s housing market, and this bill presents a much-needed injection of funds into our state’s factory-built housing industry that will help to position Colorado as a leader in this space, and to expand the portfolio of affordable housing options that are desperately needed around the state,” said Matt Scherr, Eagle County Commissioner & Vice Chair of Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) Land Use and Natural Resources steering committee.

“The Innovative Housing Incentive Program created by HB22-1282 is an opportunity for Colorado to be a national leader in the development of affordable and energy efficient housing. The affordable manufactured housing created by this program, will be a welcome solution to the crisis we face at the local level of housing our workers and families. Energy efficient housing is also a critical climate mitigation solution. Many thanks to the sponsors and Governor Polis for this creative and smart approach for Colorado,” said Hilary Cooper, San Miguel County Commissioner.

“When Colorado leads the nation in driving innovative policy that creates new affordable housing units across the housing continuum but also brings new jobs to our state it’s a win-win for Colorado and the Colorado Association of Realtors are proud to see truly transformative policy take hold in Colorado!,” said Liz Peets, Vice President of Government Affairs, Colorado Association of Realtors.

“We are happy to support the passage of HB1282. Innovative housing solutions are desperately needed in Colorado.   Affordable housing organizations need housing solutions and innovation to help our state meet the needs of Coloradoans.  As a board member of Chfa I look forward to supporting a growing innovative housing industry in Colorado. This bill allows us to start to address the housing supply problem we have in our state,” said Nate Peterson, Vederra Building Systems & Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) Board Member.

“Counties and Commissioners Acting Together (CCAT), as an early and active supporter of The Innovative Housing Incentive Program, is so excited to see Governor Polis sign this bill into law today. Our organization recognizes this legislation as an outstanding example of bipartisan leadership toward improving the availability of affordable housing in Colorado for many years to come,” said Kelly McNicholas Kury, Pitkin County Commissioner.

“The need for affordable housing throughout the state is immense.  This bill will immediately help existing modular factories to expand and new factories to be built. This increased capacity will allow communities to build homes for hardworking Coloradans and boost homeownership in our state!,” said Eric Schaefer, Vice President at Fading West Development in Buena Vista.