Otis couple receives “Mass Casita” amid statewide rollout of prototype homes
The modular homes made from Oregon-grown mass-timber, arriving in communities this summer, may offer a speedier solution to state’s housing crisis
OTIS, Ore., June 7, 2023 — This morning in Otis, a small Lincoln County community near the Oregon coast, Barbara and Scott Benedict stood on their rural property and watched as a crane lifted a pair of large boxes off of two flatbed trucks. By early afternoon, workers had placed the two boxes, or modules, together to form the Benedicts’ new home, replacing the one destroyed in 2020 by the Echo Mountain Fire near Lincoln City.
The Benedicts’ new “Mass Casita” is one of six prototype homes developed by Hacienda CDC and built from Oregon-grown mass timber. Last month, they began arriving in Oregon communities; nearly all will be ready for their owners to occupy them later this summer.
The home deliveries are the latest chapter in the story of Mass Casitas, an innovative pilot project that is among the first of its kind in the nation. Led by Hacienda CDC, a statewide housing organization based in Portland, the project aims to demonstrate how modular housing built with mass timber could provide a more efficient, faster and less expensive way to build housing and ease Oregon’s housing shortage.
Oregon is short 140,000 housing units and needs to build more than a half-million homes over the next 20 years in order to keep up with demand. Gov. Tina Kotek has set a construction target of 36,000 units per year, an 80% increase over current production. Reaching that goal will require innovative solutions that can generate housing much faster than Oregon does now.
“Oregon urgently needs more homes, not only for families displaced by disasters like wildfires, but for our many rural and urban communities that simply don’t have enough housing,” said Ernesto Fonseca, CEO of Hacienda. “With Mass Casitas, we’re developing a process that could add many more homes throughout the state, at a faster pace than traditional construction.”
From design to delivery
Beginning in June 2022, the six prototype Mass Casitas were designed and developed at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2. So far, three of the six prototypes have been delivered to Otis (one home) and Talent (two homes). A fourth home will be delivered to Madras in June; the remaining two homes will be installed in Portland later this summer.
At the Port, large panels of mass timber plywood were assembled into the boxes, or modules, that form the homes. After the walls were framed, crews installed mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as windows, insulation, and roof structures. The boxes were then placed onto trucks and delivered to their new communities.
On site in Otis, the two modules for the Benedicts’ home were lifted by crane off of two flatbed trucks and placed together on a concrete foundation to form one 1,136 sq. ft. structure. Over the next four to six weeks, crews will affix the two modules to the foundation, join them together, and complete a range of finishing work — such as insulating the crawl space, hooking up utilities, and completing interior doors and trim. The Benedicts will move in by late July.
Over the next year, the Mass Casitas team will work with Mass Casitas residents to monitor how the structures perform in different Oregon climates. The team will use what they learn to improve the design of Mass Casitas and inform the production process.
Potential to scale up, community partners
Hacienda’s Mass Casitas project includes the design, development, delivery and field-testing of six prototype homes. Going forward, Hacienda continues to explore how to produce Mass Casitas on a larger scale, potentially as part of a federally funded project that envisions the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2 as a new Mass Timber Innovation Hub.
In communities, Hacienda has worked with nonprofit partners to help identify and/or select the families who will live in the Mass Casitas. The six homes (which range in size from studios to 3-bedroom models) have been or will be delivered to these four communities:
1 home arrived today in Otis (Lincoln County); partner is Cascade Relief Team
2 homes are on site in Talent (Jackson County); partner is Casa of Oregon
1 home is going to Madras (Jefferson County); partner is Casa of Oregon
2 homes are going to Portland (Multnomah County); partner is Community Vision
During the December 2021 special session, the Oregon Legislature allocated $5 million for Mass Casitas to the Port of Portland, which has provided the warehouse space and fund management and partnered with Hacienda, the housing organization leading the project. Other key team members are: Salazar Architect Inc. (design), Walsh Construction Co. (general contractor), and Freres Engineered Wood (mass timber supplier/expert).
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