Project name: PDX Terminal Core Redevelopment Phase 1

Location: Portland

Completion: August 2024

Size: 1 million-square-foot expansion

Cost: $1,747,035,116

Owner/Developer: Port of Portland

Architect: ZGF Architects

Engineers: KPFF

General Contractor: Hoffman Construction Co. of Oregon and Skanska USA Joint Venture

Submitting Companies: Hoffman Construction and Western Partitions Inc.

Subcontractors: Hoffman/Skanska: AAI Engineering – Afghan Associates, Ackerman Plumbing, Adams Consulting & Engineering, ADCOMM Engineering, Advanced Tribal, AIG, AirSide Solutions, Alcantar & Associates, Allegion, Allen Construction Management Services, Alliance Industrial Group, Ambrose Glass, American Direct, American Plumbing & Heating, Anderson Environmental Contracting, Angle Detailing, Anning Johnson, Apex Environmental Consulting, Apply-A-Line, Arctic Sheet Metal, Armadillo Underground, Arrow Timber Framing, Art Cortez Construction, ARUP, Aspen Ridge Electric, Authority Dock & Door, Autodesk, Automatic Systems, Avvir, Azuri Construction, B&L Wood Creations, Bantam’s Plumbing, Basic Fire Protection, Baxter Air Engineering, Bello Global Consulting, Belsinger Sign Works, Benson Permasteelisa, Big C Industries, Big Floors, BIM Connection, Black Line Glazing, Blackmouth Design, BNP Associates, Boingo Wireless, Boyter Brothers Insulation, BrandSafway, Briggs Engineering, Buffalo Welding, Building Champions, Building Material Specialties, BuildWise, Bulldog Mechanical & Remodeling, Burns & McDonnell, CalPortland, Campbell’s Concrete, Carey & Walsh, Carleton Hart Architecture, Carpinteria, Carvart, Casewerks, Cash’s Drapery, Cherry City, CIDA, City of Portland, COAT Flagging, Cochran, Coffman Excavation, Columbia Steel Services, Columbia Wire & Iron Works, Colvico, Communication Technology Services, Concrete GPR, Condon-Johnson & Associates, Constrafor, Contract Décor, Convergint Technologies, CoreBrace, Corradini, Cosco Fire Protection, Crossfire Sprinkler Company, CTL Engineering, Culver Glass, Cumming Group, Curtis Restaurant Equipment, Custom Source Woodworking, Daifuku Airport America, DBC Architecture, DBM Vircon, DeaMor Associates, Derr and Gruenewald Construction, DeWitt Construction, Diamond Specialties, Digital Works Production, Diverse Works, Diversified Heavy Lift, Dormakaba USA, Dowco, Downing Diversified, Draft Doctor, Drywall, Elcon Associates, Elite Terminal Services, ELK Collective, Elk Ridge Services, Engineered Products, Faison Construction, Faster Permits, Faustrollean Fixture, FD Thomas, FDT Structural Secialties, Fisher Marantz Stone, Floor Factors, Floor Solutions, Flynn BEC LP, GBA Architectural Products + Services, Geotechnical Resources, GEW, Gibson Door & Millwork, GNB Global, Greenberry Industrial, GTS Construction Consulting, Ha’s Painting, Halliday Associates, Hanset Stainless, Harder Mechanical Contractors, Harris Rebar, HEA, Hermanson, Hicks Striping & Curbing, Hilti, HLB Lighting Design, HNTB, Hoffman Layout & Modeling, Hoffman Structures, Howard Jacobs Masonry, Hughey and Phillips, I&H Construction, i-TEN Associates, Icon 3D Signs & Flair Plastic Products, IES Communications, Imperial Brown, Insulpro, Integrated Construction Enterprises, Integrated Systems Group, Intelligent Systems Now, Interface Engineering, Interior Exterior Specialist, Interior Technology, Intertek-PSI, Iris Window Coverings, ISAT, ISEC, ISG, J.A. Watts, Jacobs, Jacobsen/Daniels Assoc., Jet City Laser, JH Kelly, John Bean Technologies, Johnson Controls, JRT Mechanical, Just Right Heating & Cooling, K & D Window Shades, K2 Construction Consultants, K2 Security Consulting, Keller North America, Key Construction Services, Key Electrical Construction, Klinger Masonry, Kodiak Pacific Construction, KSL, KTA-Tator, Landscape Forms, Leading Edge Installations, LeanProject, Legend Custom Woodworking, Levolux Limited, Lisin Metallurgical Services, Luma Lighting Design, M&H Metal Works, Mackenzie, Madlyn Metal Fab, Mammoet, Marc Bowen Productions, Mardan Fabrication, Mayer Reed, Mayes Testing Engineers, McDonald Excavating, McKinstry, Mecho Shade, Menzies Aviation, Michigan, Midion, MiTek (Benson), MK Fall Protection, MM Systems, Mobile Mini, Multivista, MWA Architects, NBZ Consulting Engineers, NDE Professionals, Ness & Campbell Crane, Newlands & Co., Norkote of Washington, Norse Ironworks, North Star Industries, NorthStar CG, NorthStar Demolition and Remediation, Northstar Industries, Northwest Handling Systems, Northwest Precast, Novum Structures, NW Draft Technicians, OEG, OLA Consulting Engineers, O’Neill Construction Group, O’Neill Electric, Oregon Door Consultants, Oregon Specialty Systems, Organon Group, Oshkosh Aerotech, Overhead Door, Pacific Mobile Structures, Pacific Window Tinting, PAE Engineers, Palmer Engineering Company, Paragon Risk Engineering, PB Steel Detailing, Penhall, Performance Contracting, Performance Systems Integration, Phit Too, Pinnacle Infotech, Pioneer Waterproofing, PipeTech Support c/o Peninsular Technologies, Pitman Restaurant Equipment, PLACE Studio, Polygon US, Portland Airlines Consortium, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Portland Dock & Door, Portland State University, Practical Integrated Designs, Pratt + Larson, Precision Construction Company, Prestige Tile & Stone, Procore Technologies, Professional Lath and Plaster, Professional Roof Consultants, Professional Service Industries, Publix Northwest, Pure Floors, QED Lab, QSEC Steel Detailing, R2M2 Rebar & Stressing, Raben QMS, Ramsay Signs, RDH Building Science, Re:Source New Jersey, Rentokil North America, Resolute Construction, RIEDESIGNS, River City Environmental, RIXIR Systems, RJ Ramos Enterprises, Roger Langeliers Construction, Romtec, RS&H, RStart, Rubenstein’s Contract Carpet, Rytec, Safe Solutions AS, Safeguard US, SAIF, SBC Global, Schuff Steel, SecureInsights, Service Master Building Services, Service Master Clean of Seattle, Sigma Associates, Sigma Engineering Solutions, Sign Wizards, Simpson & Associates, Skyline Construction Services, Sky-Shots Aerial Photography, Smartvid.io, Snyder Roofing & Sheet Metal, Soil Freeze, Southland Industries, Sowles, Specialized Pavement Marking, Specialty Firestop Systems, Stanley – Security, Sterling Floors, Sterling Pacific, Stoncor Group, Stonewood Structural Engineers, Straight Up Carpentry, Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Stryker, Studio Petretti Architecture, Summit Wood Creations, SunSteel, Superfab, Swinerton, Technical Waterproofing, Techsource Enterprises, Terracon Consultants, The Greenbusch Group, Thompson Metal Fab, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, Timberlab, TMC, Top End Terrazzo, Town & Country Fence, TrailB Technologies, Turtle Mountain Construction, Vaagen Timbers, Valar Engineering, Valgreen Painting, Valmont Telecommunications, Vaughn Environmental, VTC, W&W-AFCO Steel, Walter P Moore, Weil Architecture, Wessco, Western Partitions, Western Rebar, Western Tile & Marble, Western Wood Structures, Westlake Consultants, Whole Building Solutions, Williams 3T Contracting, Willscot Mobile Mini, Williamsen & Bleid, WSP, Zana Construction, Zena Forest Products. Western Partition subcontractors: AllSource Construction Supply, CWallA, Freres, L&W, Lindner, Lively Trucking, Meltar Supply, Professional Lathe and Plaster, Rigidized, SkyAcoustics, Viking Engineering and Construction

A massive wooden roof spanning 9 acres now crowns Portland International Airport, the result of groundbreaking construction techniques that allowed the busy transportation hub to remain fully operational throughout its major renovation.

The Hoffman-Skanska joint venture and its teams completed the installation using an unprecedented prefabrication strategy that prevented disruption to the 50,000 daily passengers while meeting the Port of Portland’s stringent seismic resiliency requirements.

Serving millions of travelers each year, PDX could not afford the widespread closures that on-site roof construction would have required. To solve this challenge, construction teams built the entire roof structure off-site in 20 massive sections called “cassettes,” each containing approximately 120 individual components including skylights, insulation and mechanical systems. The largest cassette measured 220 feet by 110 feet. The construction required a 20-acre staging area near the airport’s fire department headquarters, featuring a reinforced concrete pad engineered to support the weight of the roof modules during assembly.

In a first-of-its-kind sustainability initiative for a project of this scale, all timber was sourced from 13 sustainably managed forests in Oregon and Washington. The project team established a comprehensive tracking system to ensure wood could be traced from “forest to frame.”

Timberlab was instrumental in advancing wood innovation at PDX, supporting the development of the signature 400,000-squaer-foot roof. Timberlab and Hoffman-Skanska selected local firms such as Zip-O and Freres Lumber to fabricate key structural components.

Special consideration was given to seismic resilience, with the roof and curtain wall system designed to move up to 24 inches in any direction during an earthquake. This movement is made possible by seismic base isolation bearings that support the roof structure.

In another innovative move, workers repurposed a connector between concourses that was slated for demolition, transforming it into a pedestrian bridge bypass. This creative reuse prevented 3.4 million pounds of material from entering landfills.

The project is LEED Gold certified.

Minority- and women-owned businesses’ participation on the overall project ranged between 22 percent and 25 percent.

Subcontractor Western Partitions played a key role on the project. Its scope – totaling $19.5 million and involving 400,000 square feet of space – included exterior and interior metal framed walls, interior soffits and ceilings, insulation, drywall, taping, stadium seating framing, and mass plywood panels atop the concessions spaces and airline offices. The company spent approximately 20 percent of its contract on partnerships with MWESB subcontractors and suppliers.

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Portland-based InkBuilt Design is an architecture firm rooted in sustainability and resilience. Specializing in residential, commercial, and community projects, the firm integrates Passive House principles and prefabrication to enhance energy efficiency and long-term durability.

InkBuilt’s portfolio includes projects like the Beaverton Shelter, which provides 24-hour, year-round emergency housing, and the Timber Ridge development, offering intergenerational affordable housing. The firm also played a key role in the renovation of Heartwood Commons, supportive housing that prioritizes community and sustainability.

Driven by the belief that architecture should serve both people and the environment, InkBuilt’s designs emphasize adaptability, affordability, and high performance. The firm’s deep expertise in sustainable building practices helps clients reduce energy consumption while creating spaces that remain functional and livable for generations.

InkBuilt collaborates with nonprofits and community groups to advocate for equitable housing and responsible development. Their work on the Josephine, a mixed-use residential building in a historic district, exemplifies their approach to balancing innovation with practicality.

As a woman-owned firm, InkBuilt emphasizes design-build collaboration, focusing on efficiency, affordability, and performance. Through projects like these, InkBuilt Design continues to explore new ways architecture can address housing challenges while promoting sustainability and community well-being.

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A prefabricated building enclosure system has been installed for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Ross Complex Technical Services Building under construction in Vancouver, Washington. Use of a progressive design-build project delivery method streamlined incorporation of prefabricated elements, reduced the construction timeline by two months, and saved more than $1 million in the overall budget.

The project team includes developer and design-builder Mortenson, Opsis Architecture, California-based DGA Architects, and contractor and fabricator Western Partitions Inc.

The new facility will help avoid both $25 million in upgrades to the buildings it is replacing and hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in lease costs, according to the BPA. The Technical Services Building will support maintenance, testing and repairs to maintain modern electronic transmission communications and controls. The project is scheduled for completion in summer 2023.

While prefabrication is not a new solution for efficiency in commercial construction, the use of prefabricated panels on a building exterior is still rare. It was chosen for the Technical Services Building via progressive design-build delivery. It prescribes that the design-builder is selected by the owner early in the project and primarily for its qualifications. As with all progressive design-build projects, the Technical Services Building is being delivered in two distinct phases: design development and pre-construction, and final design and construction.

As part of the pre-construction planning process, the design-build team members explored ways to maximize their respective strengths to provide the greatest value possible; the result was an early decision to use prefabrication. After evaluating seven types of enclosure systems, the team opted to leverage Western Partitions’ ability to fabricate façade panels at its facility less than 10 miles from the project site.

Each panel of the Ross Complex Technical Services Building project is unique. One set covers the first floor, and another set of two-story panels up to 42 feet tall encloses the upper floors of the three-story structure. Metal-stud frame assembly was used with fiber-cement panels and articulated metal panels with ribs. Only specific areas – such as under structural steel canopies and within them – were conventionally framed.

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With the ongoing shortage of skilled labor showing little signs of abatement, contractors are eagerly seeking ways to increase efficiency. This is one reason why the use of panelized wood-framed wall systems and other methods of prefabrication are gaining popularity.

“There is a lot of automation and digitization of building information with BIM, so that’s a factor,” said Mike Steffen, director of innovation for Walsh Construction. “But the big factor that’s leading to its use now is the shortage of labor.”

It’s actually a double whammy – in the Pacific Northwest, at least, he added.

“There’s more work out there available for the contractors to do, and the labor pool is extremely stretched,” he said. “So they have to do more with less, and panelization allows them to attack projects, regardless of their size, with a smaller crew and be able to spread their labor out. To me, that is actually the biggest driver of the change right now.”

One of the advantages of prefabrication is the reduction in the amount of on-site work required. By using three-dimensional digital models based on engineering and design documents, virtually any part of a project can then be shared with trade partners; then those aspects where prefabrication makes financial and practical sense can be tackled.

“Really, it’s part of the Lean construction trend that’s been smoldering a little bit over the past almost decade at this point,” said Aaron Vogel, a project and building information modeling (BIM) manager for Bremik Construction. “Some components of that seem to be catching on more than others, but basically it’s making it more of an efficient manufacturing process instead of the less efficient method of building everything on-site.”

Vogel has helped guide a number of projects where Bremik has collaborated with trade partners in creating these models months before the first shovelful of dirt is moved.

“If we’re coordinating with trade partners on all the systems in the building months before anything shows up on-site, it allows them to prefabricate,” Vogel said. “We get everyone on board early on and partner with the subs and try to communicate early on that we view this as a benefit we think you should do.”

Some of the larger subcontractors Bremik has partnered with in this regard include Piper Mechanical and Timberland Inc. The latter firm is working with Bremik on the Magnolia II affordable housing project in Northeast Portland. There, the two companies worked up a digital framing package based on building plans using Autodesk Revit design software. This allowed Timberland to pre-cut every stick of lumber being used for the four-story building for nonprofit Innovative Housing Inc.

“We’re kind of taking things that normally aren’t part of construction industry and making it more like manufacturing process,” Vogel said. “We’re borrowing from the architectural and design and from animation, and now there’s a whole push toward improving the visibility of the project, so there’s a whole tidal wave of software geared toward the contractor.”

It’s not a rigid process. There are so many variables in each project that creativity is not only allowed; it’s required.

“In general it’s been an asset,” Vogel said. “It’s been something that to a certain extent has grown out of the architects’ modeling. But it would be nice if we can use it to move toward a more collaborative process.”

Prefabricated wall panels are one of the easier pieces of a building to build off-site. They come in many forms too. From simple interior walls consisting only of bare studs to exterior panels that come with weather barriers, insulation and even utility fixtures, the variations are nearly endless.

Computer-aided design and manufacturing have also helped ensure a much higher level of accuracy in crafting prefabricated components.

Such advantages of prefabrication may influence decisions for affordable housing projects. The owner requirements for projects of this type typically differ significantly from those for market-rate projects, in part because of the former’s long-term approach.

“With the client niche we serve, especially in the affordable housing world, costs have been going up dramatically,” Steffen said.

From a historic annual rate of inflation of roughly 3 to 4 percent, the current rate of cost escalation regionally is at least double that amount.

In response, Steffen led a team of Walsh executives in crafting a white paper that examined a host of different ways of approaching design, preconstruction and construction in an attempt to reduce costs and boost efficiencies. Known as Cost Efficient Design and Construction (CEDC), this effort is simply a matter of common sense, Steffen said. CEDC includes things like standardizing the layout of residential units, reducing their width (and by extension, the building envelope), avoiding excessive glazing, staying away from cantilevers and structural steel, and putting plumbing in back-to-back walls.

Altogether, such actions can slash roughly 10 to 20 percent from a project’s cost, Steffen said.

“Our premise is if you follow these ideas you will very likely reduce costs,” he said.

Such strategies can be used with prefabricated wall panels. There are many examples under construction in Portland, including the Nesika Illahee affordable housing project being built by LMC Construction in the Cully neighborhood.

The three-story wood-framed building designed by Carleton Hart Architecture will have 59 residential units. Prefabricated panels manufactured by Pacific Wall Systems are being used. This has reduced the number of carpenters on-site to fewer than 10.

“If I had 20 guys out here they’d just be getting in each other’s way,” LMC superintendent Tim Williams said. “I think we have more superintendents (on-site) than we do laborers and carpenters.”

Meanwhile, efficiency also is increasing via use of cross-laminated timber panels in floor and ceiling installations for projects such as Albina Yard, an office building in Northeast Portland. Geoff Sosebee of Lever Architecture helped design it.

“The panels only require a crew of four, including a crane operator, and it goes up very, very quickly,” he told the audience last month during a Portland Design Week event focused on prefabrication. “But we learned that we needed team-wide communication with the contractor, the manufacturer, architects, engineers, fabricators – everyone involved.”

Lessons were learned along the way, Sosebee added. But the process that was developed in ad hoc fashion for Albina Yard has since been used in other projects.

“We modeled every bolt and every screw, and in the end we wanted this thing to go together like an Erector Set,” he said. “An entire floor would be set in three to four hours during construction, but it wasn’t all easy.”

Challenges abound for the building industries these days. However, prefabrication and similar strategies are attracting attention, and may help firms overcome those hurdles.

“The industry has been lazy and has not been willing to do the right thing, which is to do the intensive coordination early and have this stuff figured out on paper or with a virtual model,” Steffen said. “But the industry is going more and more that way, and the prefabrication can help.”

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Contractors are always looking for ways to save time and money. Prefabrication sometimes can do just that. It’s not a new building method, but one that has gained attention as the construction industry has struggled to find enough skilled workers.

According to the , 77 percent of respondents in the construction industry nationally think today’s prefabrication environment is significantly different than just four years ago. Further, respondents say the amount of project work using prefabricated materials almost tripled between 2010 and 2016.

The ongoing skilled labor shortage is a big driver of this trend, according to industry stakeholders.

“Right now everyone is fighting for skilled labor, and a lot of site-build contractors are having a hard time finding that labor,” said Paetra Orueta, executive vice president with Blazer Industries, an Aumsville-based manufacturer of prefabricated building components. “Either they turn down work or pay top dollar. So it’s really hard because it’s moving the pricing right up, and people are desperate so they will pay it.”

Many others agree.

“Architects have been wanting prefab to take off for a long time,” said Dave Otte, a principal at Portland firm Holst Architecture, which is the lead designer on a modular affordable housing project in Portland’s Kenton neighborhood. “I think we’re just now getting to a tipping point in Portland where schedule and labor are such driving pieces that prefab starts to make economic sense.”

Construction schedules are lengthening, Otte added, and fewer skilled workers are available now than before the Great Recession. New ways of saving time and money are being sought.

“We’re growing so fast as a city, he added, “Modular is more typical in California and Washington, and Oregon is the next place it’ll be a more everyday construction typology.”

Other figures in the 2017 FMI survey, however, suggest prefabrication isn’t refined. For instance, 46 percent of respondents said prefabrication is not effective for them, while another 40 percent indicated the concept needs improvement. Just 14 percent of contractors, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction with prefabrication.

Overall, the survey points to four main trends surrounding prefabrication. One, today’s prefabrication environment is very different than in 2013; two, most contractors struggle to make prefabrication effective; three, contractors want to double their labor investment in prefabrication over the next five years; and four, in today’s environment, project schedules are considered a critical benefit of prefabrication.

“Modular has a lot of benefits, but it also has a lot of constraints,” said architect Brian Cavanaugh, a principal at Architecture Building Culture, the Portland firm responsible for designing the modular Jarrett Street Lofts on North Interstate Avenue. “Everything has to be really dialed in.”

Projects can require both state and local governmental approval, he said. Teams need to understand how those can dovetail so that time and cost savings can be achieved.

“When you look at it from a raw cost per square foot, modular is more expensive than stick framing,” he said. “But again, that’s not the whole cost picture. If you can realize the time advantages, it could be 30 percent less on the schedule, depending on the project.”

Prefabrication has another significant benefit, according to Hoffman Construction vice president Dan Drinkward.

“We find that in addition to the labor benefits, it improves quality and it decreases the amount of waste material and allows us to make the construction site more like a manufacturing plant,” he said. “It’s like an assembly site instead of a construction site, and that’s ultimately our goal.”

These days, Hoffman Construction rarely moves forward with a project without at least a small amount of prefabrication, Drinkward said.

“It’s part of our standard process in preconstruction to see the ways we can use prefabricated building components,” he said.

Drinkward expects modular construction, now used most frequently for residential projects, to gain use in commercial projects as well.

“I don’t think there are any downsides to it,” he said. “I will say it’s not always cost-effective, and you have to do a careful analysis; it doesn’t make sense every time.”

Prefabrication makes the most sense for projects with many repeating elements or a large number of mechanical installations, Drinkward said.

“Apartments, hotels, student housing – (for) those type of projects, a complete module might make sense,” he said. “We’ve looked at those projects, and they’re limited in terms of size of the project, and also they’re not necessarily efficient in terms of materials. We have not found one to make it work on, but I would love to do one of those; they’re very interesting to me.”

Developer Derrick Aragon said his firm, Northwest Ventures Group, has carried out eight projects in the Portland area using modular construction. This includes a pair of assisted living facilities in Milwaukie and Vancouver, Washington, as well as 13 Dekum in Northeast Portland. The three-story, 28-unit apartment building was built in 2016, with installation of modular pods taking just two days.

Northwest Ventures Group, whether acting as developer or contractor, has grown comfortable using modular components in its projects, Aragon said.

“Once we figured out what we were doing, it presented this opportunity to take advantage of the speed and the cost,” he said. “It’s also a lot faster to build and it takes that risk off the table at some level. You have more control over the end product; that’s something that’s appealing from a surface level. From my side of the table it’s about how I can pick the exact product I want; that’s why I like it.”

Costs of modular projects vary, Aragon said. Some pencil out as cheaper than site-built and some don’t.

“It all depends what your finished product is, your market and what kind of product you’re bringing to the market,” he said. “Modular can provide equal to and also less than stick-frame or site-built construction.”

Another area of prefabrication is covered by Portland firm GRIT Building Solutions. It was founded just two years ago and utilizes interior panels manufactured with plumbing, electric, data or other types of systems already set. These are shipped to the job site and installed far more quickly than building them in place.

“The GC does the shell and core and we come in with walls that have power, data networks, and then we bring the finishes on site later,” said Angela Glatz, a project executive with GRIT Building Solutions. “It’s similar to conventional construction in that we’re putting in the rough framing, and it has the power and data, but we leave the finishes off until all the other trades are done.”

GRIT Building Solutions contracts with DIRTT Environmental Solutions, a Canadian manufacturer, to supply prefabricated panels for each job.

“I think part of it is just people’s needs,” Glatz said. “There’s less skilled labor to do the work. People are more willing to think outside the box to say, ‘How can we get these jobs done?’”

Construction is one of the slowest industries to bring in new technologies, she added, but firms like hers are trying to break new ground in that regard.

“We’re using (BIM) to design and price, but it’s also feeding the CNC machines and robots and factories,” she said. “It’s creating a more seamless process, and maybe there’s a good ol’ boy mentality, but now the need is so much greater maybe people will be willing to try something new.”

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While prefabricated buildings continue to pop up in Washington and Northern California, they aren’t catching on in Oregon.

“Construction costs are the biggest part of it,” said Nathan Young, owner of MODS PDX Inc. in Portland. “The labor shortage is also a part of it. We haven’t seen the kind of labor shortages they have in the Bay Area.”

Prefabricated building techniques can save developers time and money. But the conditions have to be right, according to industry professionals.

“People aren’t committed to it to the point of this is a way they are going to do things going forward,” said Derrick Aragon, principal at Northwest Ventures Group Inc. “They are comparing (prices), and if (a modular price) comes in in the same ballpark, they say they want do it the way they always have.”

Northwest Ventures Group is one of the few companies that has successfully developed a prefab project in Portland. The firm was the principal developer of the Dekum 13 project in Portland; it also has two other prefab projects in the development stage.

Improvements in design and quality have made the structures more attractive across the country.

“The designs have come a long way,” Young said. “You have seen them in high-end magazines. They’re in all sorts of different styles. They don’t look like or have a module feeling.”

Modular buildings have improved since the days of mobile homes. Today, everything from 300-square-foot temporary lodgings to 4,000-square-foot luxury structures can be built on a factory assembly line hundreds of miles from their final destinations.

Still, the industry largely serves a niche market. While Kiplinger and similar websites offer slide shows featuring million-dollar, 4,400-square-foot modular mansions, the average prefabricated structure tends to be geared for the small single-family or multifamily markets.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the national average cost per square foot for a typical modular home is $76.80. The average stick-built home costs $94.34 per square foot. However, regional disparities can have dramatic impacts on those costs.

According to Young, in the San Francisco Bay Area, residential construction is running $400 to $500 per square foot. Modular construction varies more by producer, but averages approximately $160 per square foot.

In Portland, the disparities are much closer and in some cases, modular homes cost the same as traditionally built ones. In a report on housing released in 2016, the city of Portland estimated stick-built construction costs at $207 per square foot.

“Our push has been on energy efficiency,” he said. “More millennials … are keen on getting smaller, 2,000-square-foot homes that are energy efficient.”

Another big selling point for prefab structures is the time savings they can offer a developer. Every month that can be saved on construction means less financing costs carried out of the developers’ pocket.

“The big driver is time and quality,” said Aaron Holm, CEO of Blokable.

Holm’s company focuses on building affordable homes in markets where many people are priced out of housing. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has a 30,000-square-foot facility in Vancouver. He said that in some areas his modular construction method can build housing up to 50 percent faster than traditional stick-built methods.

“In this industry, the idea you have to custom-build every structure seemed kind of crazy,” he said. “I just thought here was a huge opportunity to build a product that could fill a need.”

Holm entered the industry after serving as a product manager at Amazon. He was involved with overseeing the company’s brick-and-mortar bookstores and Amazon Go grocery endeavor.

His new company’s niche is small “plug and play” housing that runs between $135 and $350 per square foot. Like most modular designs, the structures are built in a company factory, and then shipped to the site. Currently, the company has projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Auburn, Washington.

What each market has in common is a labor shortage and skyrocketing property prices, forcing people out of the market. Things have gotten so expensive in the Bay Area that Google recently announced that it would purchase 300 prefabricated homes to serve as temporary housing for its workforce.

“Our mission is to make housing affordable to everyone,” Holm said. “As we ramp up, we can really drive down cost and time. There is certainly room to expand. I think the key thing is delivering value.”

Affordable housing is a key market for the industry, which could make it a viable option for dealing with the housing crisis in Portland.

Stuart Emmons, a housing advocate and modular housing specialist, believes prefabrication can help address homelessness.

“Modular/prefab is still feeling its way,” he said. “The solution (to homelessness) is there is a series of solutions. Prefab is part of it.”

One issue limiting the use of prefabricated homes, Emmons said, is a lack of builders. While there are more builders on the East Coast and Midwest, most builders try to stay within 1,000 miles of their primary market.

“The problem is that there aren’t that many manufacturers on the West Coast,” he said. “It’s a wide open field.”

While, in theory, prefabricated structures could be shipped across the country, transit regulations can make shipping the structures across multiple states a challenge.

“In California and Canada they allow wider shipping,” Aragon said. “In Oregon, (the limit) is 16 feet wide. You have to pay for extra permits, but you can’t go past 20 feet.”

A recent change to Oregon law added four feet to the maximum length of items that can travel on state highways.

“Four feet doesn’t sound like much, but when we are looking at small places, every foot counts,” Aragon said.

Another issue has to do with finding general contractors that have dealt with using a modular format. Contractors still have to prepare the site, perform foundation work and put the new structure in place.

“Weather is my biggest concern regarding modular delivery in the cooler, damper Northwest climate,” said Robert Lecher, project manager at Ankrom Moisan Architects. “The factory can do a good job preparing boxes for shipment, but general contractors have a big learning curve to keep the project dry while being erected.”

Lecher teamed with Bridge Housing to construct the Marea Alta development in San Leandro, California. The two-phase project will provide 285 units when it is completed in 2018. He said that finding builders capable of handling projects that size is a big problem.

As housing prices continue to soar, quick inexpensive ways to build houses will look more attractive, Lecher said.

“I believe we’re about to see a large increase of modular housing in Portland and Seattle,” he said.

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