Can prefabricated houses accelerate the reconstruction of Altadena and Pacific Palisades?
this New Foundation Founded by Rick Caruso Hopefully it will announce a $15 million commitment from Airbnb co-founders on Wednesday to provide nearly 100 prefabricated homes in Wildfire’s damaged neighborhoods.
The donation from Joe Gebbia, also a member of Tesla’s board, will distribute homes to a factory built by Samara, co-founded by another company, Gebbia. Samara models range from studio to two-bedroom units up to 950 square feet.
“In addition to people coming home quickly, this makes everyone want to be a victim of change,” Caruso told The Times in an interview.
The partnership between Caruso’s nonprofit, Steadfast La and Samara will provide free homes for those who are not insured, underinsured or older, otherwise lacking money for reconstruction. Gebbia reached out this month and offered to offer millions of dollars.
“Obviously, this caught my attention,” Caruso said of the important gift. According to the deal, Steadfast will raise an additional $15 million to match Gebbia’s gifts to generate $30 million for 80 to 100 homes.
The plan also aims to quickly provide housing with a footprint similar to that once stood in Palisade or Altadena. Of the burning homes in Altadena, about 600 homes are about 1,000 square feet or less, Caruso said.
Those who choose for this program will get factory-built homes with metal roof, dual pane windows, fireproof design and HVAC system. Samara will also help with permanent installation of the structure.
Samara CEO and co-founder Mike McNamara said his team will determine how and where to place the house, grade the soil, and possibly install foundations and driveways or garage. Despite Lot’s grading and engineering work, including connecting to water, sewers and electricity companies, Samara will build homes at its factory in Mexico, Mexico, about six miles from the California border.
“We do a lot of preparation when building a house on site,” McNamara said. “All we have to do is to get it stuck on the back of the half and pick it up with a crane, lift it up to the site and at a few Install it within days.”
At Samara’s home.
(Samara)
McNamara said the distance of the factory would benefit the reconstruction process, as Samara did not have to compete with the labor market or material supply chain in Los Angeles.
“We will build a completely different supply chain,” he said. “Our fees will not be upgraded. Our timeline will not be rolling out.”
According to McNamara, the two-bedroom model of Samara costs about $250,000, with additional preparation and allow work to cost $250,000. He and Caruso hope that local governments can modify the price tag by exempting licensing fees and other measures.
“I hope to be able to build up to 1,000 homes and providers of different homes – that’s just the beginning,” Caruso said.
Caruso said the firm process is still building a process to verify qualified homeowners. An independent organization (not announced yet) will determine financial needs and other qualifications, but interested homeowners You can submit information Learn more on Steadfast’s website.
