When Andy Mest, an executive at Greystar, made his return to the United States in 2018, little did he know that he was about to embark on a journey that would reshape the American construction landscape. With four years of experience overseeing Greystar’s global construction team, Andy couldn’t help but notice the striking contrast between American and European construction practices.
Andy Mest, Greystar
“I thought to myself, we can continue to do it like cavemen or change the way we build,” Mest recalls. In the United States, the predominant method for constructing single-family homes relies on traditional stick-built methodology, involving on-site wood framing by a team of contractors. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Europe had fully embraced factory-built housing as a cornerstone of its construction industry.
Fast forward to today, and Andy Mest’s visionary approach, inspired by the speed and high-tech innovation prevalent in European construction, is taking shape right on a construction site just outside Pittsburgh. Shortly after his return in 2018, Mest secured the approval and funding needed to kickstart his mission of introducing factory-built apartments into the Greystar portfolio. His inspiration was deeply rooted in his prior experience overseeing the construction of high-rise modular towers in the bustling city of London.
Under Andy Mest’s dynamic leadership, Greystar is ushering in a transformative era in American construction. By bridging the gap between traditional methods and the efficiency and innovation witnessed across the Atlantic in Europe, Greystar is setting new standards for construction excellence. Andy Mest’s vision has become a driving force behind a revolution that promises to redefine the way we build in the United States.
Greystar bought a factory in Knox, Pennsylvania, to build a whole new residential project line. Right now, crews are working on the first example of the firm’s Modern Living Solutions (MLS) concept, a 312-unit project called Ltd. Spring Run, in Coraopolis, a suburb 25 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. The mixture of 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units will include open floor plans, extra storage, and steel walls and frames. Modules for the six-building development will be built in Knox, then shipped about 90 miles by truck and assembled on-site. It’s set to welcome the first tenants in July.
Andy Mest’s groundbreaking initiatives are reshaping the modular construction industry as we know it. The future of American construction is brighter than ever, thanks to visionaries like Greystar’s Andy Mest and innovative companies like Greystar.
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Gary Fleisher, the Modcoach
