Champion Homes played a pivotal role in a landmark infill project in the North Corktown neighborhood of Detroit that has produced seven factory-built manufactured and modular homes for the area.
The project, launched by the North Corktown Neighborhood Association in partnership with Champion, the Gilbert Family Foundation, Enterprise Community Partners, InnovaLab, ManufacturedHomes.com, and a pair of other manufacturers, demonstrates the value and potential of factory-built housing in an area that has long suffered from a lack of modern, affordable living.
That’s a pain point that Tricia Talley, the executive director of the NCNA, has long experienced after seeing sky-high rents in her area.
“We began this project in August of 2023,” Talley said. “People have been expected to pay $1,200, $1,500, even $1,800 for a one-bedroom apartment, which keeps them from qualifying for a mortgage.”
It’s a problem that Gilbert Family Foundation Executive Director Laura Grannemann expressed similar frustrations about, particularly as it relates to Detroit’s aging housing infrastructure.
“Eighty percent of homes in the city of Detroit were built before 1960,” Grannemann said at the Tomorrow’s Housing Innovation Showcase on Friday, Oct. 25. “So, this is an urgent situation not just for innovation, but for the lived experience of Detroit residents across the city. We believe that everyone in the city deserves a stable home.”
The NCNA began to explore how to bring accessible housing to a plot of land managed by the Open Space Community Land Trust on 16th Street within view of the famous, newly revitalized Michigan Central Station.
With financial support from GFF through Enterprise Community Partners, Talley and her team got to work envisioning how the land could be used for more cost-effective single-family dwellings. “It’s about re-imagining what home ownership could be in a community like North Corktown,” Talley said at the unveiling of the homes. “We’re not just displaying homes. We’re showcasing a vision for a more accessible, sustainable, and vibrant future.”
Once conversations started between Talley and the Gilbert Family Foundation, David Allen and his team at InnovaLab came in to get things off the ground.
“The fact that we only do factory-built housing, and that we only serve clients in the government and nonprofit space, really set us apart for this project,” Allen, president of InnovaLab, told the MHInsider.
The seven homes brought in by Allen’s team include four modulars and one HUD-code home from Champion Homes, which is based in Troy, Mich., a modular produced by Indiana’s Heckaman Homes, and a Ritz-Craft manufactured home out of Pennsylvania.
“It is so important to continue getting these homes into the contiguous neighborhoods in the metropolitan areas,” Byron Stroud, director of business development for Champion Homes, said. “That’s where you’re going to see the real impact.”
Allen said a project of this scale normally would take InnovaLab about 60 days to complete.
“We put together all seven homes in 45 days, which was a challenge, but our team came through on a truncated timeline,” Allen said.
Everybody involved hopes that the infill project will demonstrate the potential that factory-built housing brings to metropolitan areas.
“We have a vast amount of land with no density in Detroit,” Talley said. “With these types of home models, we can support anyone that wants to come back to Detroit in an affordable way.”
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