Innovative Housing Showcase Returns to National Mall This Week
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual housing showcase is coming back to the National Mall in Washington D.C. this week.
The event kicks off at noon on Tuesday and continues through Thursday, featuring exhibits, speakers, and panel events each day. Some events, including the opening ceremony speeches, were delayed due to rainy weather on Tuesday.
The event will be a chance for homebuilders to show off their newest designs while the nation has its eye on housing affordability. Americans, by and large, are more and more worried about housing affordability, and lawmakers are responding by calling for more federal action.
The Innovative Housing Showcase features dozens of homebuilders with different ideas, and includes a few dozen different home designs on display. Exhibitors will show off new housing ideas, from manufactured housing to 3-D printed homes to modular construction.
“This Showcase is a powerful reminder of what is possible when free enterprise, American grit, and strong public-private partnerships come together to make the American Dream of homeownership a reality,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner, who’s speaking at the event Wednesday, said in a statement.
Realtor.com will be attending the event and interviewing exhibitors who are showing off their new ideas.
Housing mood
Washington‘s been focused on housing this year. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act passed Congress with dozens of new provisions aimed at making it easier to build a new home. And it contains some other changes that pave the way for new innovations.
For instance, the bill removed the chassis requirement for manufactured homes, which experts think will save money on new construction. HUD is also trying to make more changes that allow more pre-fabircated homes to be built.
Cavco is demonstrating its frameless HUD-code manufactured home, the Grande Arbor. The showcase is a chance to demonstrate that these new kinds of homes don’t have to be low-quality. New technology makes them smarter, stronger and still look a lot like traditional homes, Cavco said.
Lawmakers have urged cities to enact reforms of their own to allow these new homes to be built. So, HUD’s showcase is a chance to demonstrate to the public what’s possible.
“This is an incredible opportunity to highlight the innovations happening in our industry,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, a sponsor. “Our nation is facing a housing affordability crisis, and the technologies and products that are presented during this Showcase can be a part of the solution.”
Tristan Navera is a senior reporter on housing policy, covering trends and solutions in the housing market from Washington, DC. He was previously a senior reporter at Bloomberg Law, and before that covered real estate for the Washington Business Journal. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade reporting on business and real estate in Dayton and Columbus, OH. A Cincinnati native, he holds a journalism degree from Ohio University.
