Hurricane-Proof -- and Affordable

Charlotte Crane | 6/1/2007

Tallahassee developer Bud Chiles and business partner Tony Attalla, who owns a steel fabrication-frame manufacturing facility in New Hampshire, think they have a product to help solve Florida's affordable housing crisis: A proprietary steel-framed, factory-built home that is fire, mold and mildew resistant and is designed to withstand 150-mph winds.

GreenSteel Features Steel framed Metal and cement-board roof Foam-cement insulation Cement-board exterior walls Fire, mold and mildew resistant Can withstand 150-mph winds Made from almost all recyclable material Sells for about $100 a square foot

The homes, dubbed GreenSteel, feature "Katrina cottage" floor plans and designs created by Tolar Denmark Architects of Ocean Springs, Miss., part of a post-Katrina architects' group organized to provide permanent housing for storm victims. Chiles and Attala are marketing the homes to municipalities and developers, who will assemble parcels, pour slabs and run utilities to the home sites. The homes will be constructed -- including wiring and plumbing -- at a new $6-million manufacturing plant in Carrabelle, trucked to home sites in two pieces, assembled in about a day and "plugged in" to the water, sewer and electrical lines.

Chiles and Attala, doing business as Hexaport Building Systems of Florida, hope to produce 400 homes a year that should sell to buyers for about $100 a square foot, they say. A 1,100-sq.-ft., three-bedroom model, together with site and foundation, could cost as little as $125,000, Chiles says.

A similar site-built home would cost $175 to $200 a square foot, he estimates.

Carrabelle is investing nearly $1.54 million in infrastructure and the factory and is also providing a 99-year lease on the 21-acre site for $10 a year. The plant is expected to open in September, initially will employ 50 and at peak production could hire up to 350.

Devlopment

Jubilee Under Way

Eagle Group of Atlanta has started infrastructure and golf course development on Jubilee, a 2,718-acre community in Santa Rosa County. The plan for 10,000 homes makes it the largest master-planned community in the Panhandle, according to the developer. Jubilee will be built in three phases over 10 years. Home prices for the first phase, beginning construction this year, are expected to range from $212,000 to $1 million. The town will include a pedestrian-style town center and a 1,620-acre preservation area.

Tags: Housing/Construction, Northwest