First Prefab Condo Complex Opens in Nashville
Alloy on Tech Hill is Nashville's first prefabricated condominium complex, an "urban village" with 82 units, originally crafted on an assembly line in Pennsylvania.
Core development vice president Kent Campbell looked to modular construction for the development as a work-around for weather interruptions, permitting requirements, and labor shortages. Campbell says that the biggest advantage of using modular is controlling the construction schedule, particularly as, "Everybody knows that Nashville is booming." USA Today Tennessean reports that modular is a popular option for building affordable housing despite high land and labor costs.
Twenty live-work units, with upstairs condos, are now being built next to the modular complex. Bongo Java Roasting Co. is also relocating its roasting house there from the Gulch. Auto shops and industrial businesses surround the property, formerly used for a trucking operation. "It's not like anything else around this town," Campbell said. "I think of it as industrial-modern. We left things exposed that might be covered up in other projects. We wanted to draw from the grittiness of the industrial properties around here."