I’ve been asked why would Marriott and other chains buy their modular hotels from Poland.
How could modules built in Poland, transported to the Polish docks, loaded on cargo ships to cross the Atlantic, arrive at the docks in NYC be more economical than building them in a factory on the East Coast and trucking them there?
A bit of a complicated answer. First, Marriott is already buying lots of hotel modules from factories on the East Coast and second, East Coast factories that can build enough modules to keep up with Marriott, Hilton and other hotel chain’s demand are in short supply.
Marriott has said they would like to have 25% of all of their new hotels built using modular construction.
When you realize that just a few short years ago, hotel chains were not using modular construction and today one chain is looking at 25% being modular, that is a heck of an increase.
Now take a look at all those new East Coast factories popping up everywhere you look and you wonder why they had to go to Poland for their hotel.
Oh! Sorry! I meant to say, look at the lack of new modular home factories popping up in the East.
It seems like every day we read about a new modular factory opening to serve the West Coast and Rockies as well as new factories in England to meet that country’s demand for modular.
Yet the East Coast, the birthplace of modular, seems content to try to max out production in factories built 40 years ago leaving little room on the production line for other projects and single family homes.
Related Article: Ready to Try “Spot” Strategy Planning?
Some East Coast factories are ill-equipped to meet the demand of Marriott and Hilton, the growing demand for affordable housing or huge townhouse projects.
I’ve heard rumors for the last year or two about many new modular factories coming to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions but so far there has been little to show for it.
Let’s hope those rumors come to fruition soon or we will find ourselves forced to buy homes from the West Coast, England and even Japan and China as the market for off-site modular construction will drastically increase over the next 5 years.
Gary Fleisher is a housing veteran, editor/writer of Modular Home Builder blog and industry speaker/consultant. [email protected]
