So a compliant result that makes none of the involved parties truly happy and produces an outcome that no one would have ever asked for. California is very good at this.
who's not truly happy ?
Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
11–20 of 42 posts
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
The picture of modular housing isn't at all what this project is going to look like. Yes, prefab does add some constraints but you only produce a building that looks like a stack of shipping containers if that's what you want. And, is this development really so bad? There's a bunch of additional housing created; Costco gets their store built; we have mixed use, where a lot of people aren't going to need to take a car…
Buildings that could have been beautiful and enrich the city and the lives of tenants will end up being stack of containers to bypass government imposed minimum wage and endless regulations. No wonder why soviet union buildings looked like a bland block of concrete. If this is not a cautionary tale on the dangers of regulation, I don't know what is. Congrats to Costco for finding a trick and getting things done, desp…
Soviet Union buildings started looking like bland concrete on purpose when Khrushchev decided housing everyone was more important than Stalin's focus on appearances. The buildings of that era were meant to be temporary, and only remained because their economy failed.
There were many awful things about Khrushchev, but at least the housing policy appears to have been a genuine attempt at improving things for ordinary people. Even though the housing was poor quality and ugly, it was a step up when they were introduced.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#13So a compliant result that makes none of the involved parties truly happy and produces an outcome that no one would have ever asked for. California is very good at this.
Actually it seems to make most people quite happy?
Costco seems okay with it. Housing gets built that circumvented the NIMBY's. The development is mixed use with a grocery store in walking distance instead of driving distance. Local labor gets paid an appropriate amount instead of being undercut by illegal labor (a HUGE problem in California). And it's not like current 5 over 1 construction is particularly aesthetic.
Where's the downside?
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#14Discussion (66 points, 8 days ago, 62 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40686048
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
The picture of modular housing isn't at all what this project is going to look like. Yes, prefab does add some constraints but you only produce a building that looks like a stack of shipping containers if that's what you want. And, is this development really so bad? There's a bunch of additional housing created; Costco gets their store built; we have mixed use, where a lot of people aren't going to need to take a car…
> And, is this development really so bad? It depends on how it's managed. If there _happens_ to be enough demand that people will accept it and pay a profitable rate, it might be just fine, but the cart is before the horse on this, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that outcome without other evidence to support it.
Even better if it's not profitable for Costco. That's like having business subsidize housing.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#16All housing is prefab, at least on the low end.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#17An excellent unintended consequence of forcing builders into modular housing might be a much more robust modular housing market. Sort of like Tesla starting with higher cost Roadsters and Model S cars until there is scale to compete at volume. It would be terrific to see some productivity gain in construction, which as actually declined since 1987. See the Single-Family graph here: https://www.bls.gov/productivity/highlights/construction-lab...
It's worth also noting that despite the drama, Costco is not looking to lose money on these. So the apartments will be nice enough to rent. Nimbys tend to forget the discipline of the market, especially in their talking points.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
The picture of modular housing isn't at all what this project is going to look like. Yes, prefab does add some constraints but you only produce a building that looks like a stack of shipping containers if that's what you want. And, is this development really so bad? There's a bunch of additional housing created; Costco gets their store built; we have mixed use, where a lot of people aren't going to need to take a car…
> And, is this development really so bad? It depends on how it's managed. If there _happens_ to be enough demand that people will accept it and pay a profitable rate, it might be just fine, but the cart is before the horse on this, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that outcome without other evidence to support it.
Not sure why whether Costco makes a profit on the housing is the crucial thing; perhaps they don't, and they're just ahead in that they got their store in place sooner.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
The picture of modular housing isn't at all what this project is going to look like. Yes, prefab does add some constraints but you only produce a building that looks like a stack of shipping containers if that's what you want. And, is this development really so bad? There's a bunch of additional housing created; Costco gets their store built; we have mixed use, where a lot of people aren't going to need to take a car…
Buildings that could have been beautiful and enrich the city and the lives of tenants will end up being stack of containers to bypass government imposed minimum wage and endless regulations. No wonder why soviet union buildings looked like a bland block of concrete. If this is not a cautionary tale on the dangers of regulation, I don't know what is. Congrats to Costco for finding a trick and getting things done, desp…
I don't think the renders of the actual planned development look at all like a stack of containers.
That heritage will show inside, though: there's probably not going to be any rooms that are really wide. But modern apartments tend to not have too many of those anyways.
Re: Costco Broke into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
#20So a compliant result that makes none of the involved parties truly happy and produces an outcome that no one would have ever asked for. California is very good at this.
Actually it seems to make most people quite happy? Costco seems okay with it. Housing gets built that circumvented the NIMBY's. The development is mixed use with a grocery store in walking distance instead of driving distance. Local labor gets paid an appropriate amount instead of being undercut by illegal labor (a HUGE problem in California). And it's not like current 5 over 1 construction is particularly aesthetic.…
I find it interesting that this is on strongtowns, in that this kind of mixed use is in the exact realm of what they promote.
I suspect Costco, being a "big box/warehouse", is squarely in their crosshairs; combine with any purported anti-union activity and they're quite willing to run an article that deliberately distorts what the housing is going to look like.