California bets on factory-built housing as a potential fix to the housing crunch
California lawmakers led by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks are reviving factory-built housing as a way to cut costs and speed up construction amid a housing shortage. The piece traces the idea’s long history—from early 1970s attempts to modern mass production to the collapse of Katerra—and outlines current momentum, including hearings and Terner Center research. The allure is potential hard-cost savings (roughly 10–25%) and faster timelines, but challenges loom: massive upfront factory costs, financing risks, the need for continuous production, local permitting and code hurdles, and labor politics. Proposals range from insuring projects to standardizing building codes and building a pipeline of off-site projects, but a scalable, statewide shift remains uncertain even as California presses ahead in 2026.
