Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share 50% Faster, 10% Cheaper: Factory-Built Housing That Pencils With Rory Rubin
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
50% Faster, 10% Cheaper: Factory-Built Housing That Pencils With Rory Rubin
There’s a lot of noise about modular housing construction, and then there’s what actually pencils. Today, Rory Rubin, CEO of SI Container Builds, breaks down how steel-framed, factory-built homes and multifamily can be ~50% faster to deliver and ~10% less expensive (out the door) than traditional site-built, while still meeting code, appraising, and insuring like any other home.
We get into the realities behind the headlines: ICC code compliance since 2016, why “rusty boxes” are a myth, customization vs standardization, ADUs and Chicago’s slog, the missing-middle opportunity, and why developers care about time-to-revenue more than anything. We also dig into financing, comps, insurance, and how AI is already improving procurement and schedules on the factory floor.
What you’ll learn:
- How factory builds de-risk weather, sequence trades efficiently, and compress schedules
- Where the 10% cost and up to 50% schedule savings actually come from
- How municipalities view containerized housing (and how to educate past the myths)
- Why steel + cladding = neighborhood fit without “modular” stigma
- Financing/insurance realities: comps, steel vs timber, and who’s writing the policies
- The sweet spot: ADUs and missing-middle two-/three-flats that create generational wealth Projects mentioned:
- Palatine, IL: 7,000 SF group home for trafficked girls (with HODC, Shelter Inc., DCFS)
- Navy Pier commercial bespoke build
- Multifamily stackable systems (containers are designed to stack 9-high; higher with structural steel)
Rory’s recs:
- Modular Building Institute (Tom Hardiman)
- Offsite Dirt (Audrey Grubesik)
- Gary Fleisher’s publications Book: The Alchemist (for mindset and leadership)
Connect with Rory:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roryrubin
- Email: [email protected]
Company: SI Container Builds
About The Real Finds Podcast: Real operators. Real deals. Actionable playbooks for the built world. Subscribe for weekly conversations across development, logistics, AI, and the future of cities.
Contact Our Team Of Commercial Real Estate Agents
View all episodes
By Gordon LamphereThere’s a lot of noise about modular housing construction, and then there’s what actually pencils. Today, Rory Rubin, CEO of SI Container Builds, breaks down how steel-framed, factory-built homes and multifamily can be ~50% faster to deliver and ~10% less expensive (out the door) than traditional site-built, while still meeting code, appraising, and insuring like any other home.
We get into the realities behind the headlines: ICC code compliance since 2016, why “rusty boxes” are a myth, customization vs standardization, ADUs and Chicago’s slog, the missing-middle opportunity, and why developers care about time-to-revenue more than anything. We also dig into financing, comps, insurance, and how AI is already improving procurement and schedules on the factory floor.
What you’ll learn:
- How factory builds de-risk weather, sequence trades efficiently, and compress schedules
- Where the 10% cost and up to 50% schedule savings actually come from
- How municipalities view containerized housing (and how to educate past the myths)
- Why steel + cladding = neighborhood fit without “modular” stigma
- Financing/insurance realities: comps, steel vs timber, and who’s writing the policies
- The sweet spot: ADUs and missing-middle two-/three-flats that create generational wealth Projects mentioned:
- Palatine, IL: 7,000 SF group home for trafficked girls (with HODC, Shelter Inc., DCFS)
- Navy Pier commercial bespoke build
- Multifamily stackable systems (containers are designed to stack 9-high; higher with structural steel)
Rory’s recs:
- Modular Building Institute (Tom Hardiman)
- Offsite Dirt (Audrey Grubesik)
- Gary Fleisher’s publications Book: The Alchemist (for mindset and leadership)
Connect with Rory:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roryrubin
- Email: [email protected]
Company: SI Container Builds
About The Real Finds Podcast: Real operators. Real deals. Actionable playbooks for the built world. Subscribe for weekly conversations across development, logistics, AI, and the future of cities.
Contact Our Team Of Commercial Real Estate Agents