Harvest Meadow Provides Blueprint for Scaling New, Attainable Home Inventory
A new 264-home neighborhood in Knoxville is a showcase for the effectiveness of CrossMod® homes in a partnership between Clayton and Cook Bros. Homes, turning it into the largest neighborhood of its type in the nation.
Clayton is a leading national builder based in Knoxville, and Cook Bros. is a local developer. However, both entered the Harvest Meadow partnership with a mind toward expanding the concept.
“It’s an honor to celebrate this important milestone showcasing how off-site construction and developer partnerships can provide attainable, energy-efficient homeownership for more home buyers,” Clayton CEO Kevin Clayton said. “We look forward to scaling this innovative process and embracing local industry partnerships as we develop neighborhoods like Harvest Meadow in more markets across the country.”
CrossMod® is a registered trademark of the Manufactured Housing Institute to denote homes that are built to the HUD code to combine the speed and cost-efficiency of off-site construction with traditional site-built home features.
Home prices in Harvest Meadow, for instance, will start as low as in the $300,000s, offering a more affordable alternative to the national median new home sales price of more than $400,000.
A Unique Approach
The unique approach at Harvest Meadows enables builders to deliver high-quality, energy-efficient homes more effectively and at a lower cost, making homeownership more attainable for families nationwide.
The homes appraise alongside site-built and other CrossMod homes, and can qualify for conventional financing, creating opportunities for homeowners to build equity and longterm wealth through homeownership.
Clayton points to a 2024 FHFA study showing that modern manufactured homes classified as real property, like CrossMod®, are proven to gain in value year over year. Since 2020, they have appreciated at a rate on par with site-built homes.
“The efficient way these homes are built means builders and developers can achieve price points and scale that might not have otherwise been possible,” Andrew Bryant, Clayton’s business development manager for CrossMod® initiatives, said. “With streamlined offsite construction, builders can achieve economies of scale — savings that can be passed directly to the homebuyer. And because the majority of the home construction takes place in a climate-controlled environment, production time » and costs are significantly reduced, allowing homes to be delivered and completed at an efficient pace.”
The homes in Harvest Meadow are all eBuilt®, meaning they are built to meet strict energy efficient performance guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home Manufactured Home requirements. They are estimated to help homeowners save up to 50 percent annually on energy costs, which equates to more than $900 on average per year for the homes at Harvest Meadow.
The homes will incorporate advanced features to maximize energy savings for homeowners, including:
*Solar-ready design
*Lux® low-E windows with argon gas
*All LED lighting
*ecobee smart thermostat
*Rheem® hybrid heat pump water heater
*SmartComfort by Carrier® HVAC system
*ENERGY STAR-certified appliances
Local Officials Attend Ribbon Cutting
A recent ribbon-cutting ceremony at Harvest Meadow involved several area officials, including Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.
“It is exciting to witness local builders and developers working together to introduce innovative ways to increase new affordable housing supply, addressing a critical need right here in our community,” Mayor Jacobs said.
There are more than a dozen homes in the neighborhood, and more will be brought in and placed throughout the year.
As demand for new housing continues to grow, developments like Harvest Meadow represent a scalable solution that allows builders and developers to deliver quality homes at a more efficient pace, offering homes that provide long-term value and a lower cost of ownership over the life of the home through annual energy savings.
“We are very fortunate when we can partner with talented developers, like the Cook Bros. of Knoxville, to provide a local solution to efficiently increase new home supply and help develop a beautiful new neighborhood,” Clayton said. “By embracing energy-efficient, attainable homeownership, the 264 homes in this neighborhood will represent a unique solution for families that blends the efficiencies of off-site construction with the aesthetic of site-built features.”
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