"Inside a tiny prefab home for the homeless"

SF Curbed | October 31, 2016

A possible solution for San Francisco citizens without a place to call home

It’s a tiny moment of truth for developer Patrick Kennedy’s MicroPADs.

He touts his petite prefab apartments as an affordable solution to San Francisco’s homeless problem. But that only flies if the pads can impress both the city and public as a place where anyone might theoretically want to live.

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"A Clash of Interests"

SF Business Times-digital | October 28, 2016

From Page 24

Construction unions used to be reliable supporters of development.  Not anymore

Construction unions have traditionally been adbocates for new development, for an obvious reason:  It keeps their members employed.  That delicate alliance is now coming under threat.

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"Think Small"

ModernLuxury | October 26, 2016

Nov 2016–Digital Version, pg. 94  http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/digital-edition

Patrick Kennedy offers to give me a house.  And I accept.  He leads me to a far corner of his office suite on the ground floor of the shiny tower on Ninth and Mission that he completed in 2015 and that now serves largely as a high-rise student housing.  And there sitting on a shelf is my house.

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"Come tour the tiny modular apartments that may house the homeless"

SF Curbed | October 25, 2016

Back in August we told you about developer Patrick Kennedy’s plan to build 200 tiny new homes in a DPW-owned parking lot in a matter of months.

Kennedy’s invention, the MicroPAD, is a modular studio apartment roughly the standard shipping container (with a bit more ceiling) that “snaps” together Lego-style with others to create a building supposedly in no time at all.

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"Vancouver looks at modular housing industry to boost slim rental stock"

Vancouver Sun | October 25, 2016

City of Vancouver staff are considering fast-tracking permits for standardized, modular laneway homes as a way to help boost the city’s rental stock.

Such a move could speed up the development of backyard homes on the estimated 60,000 lots that can accommodate them in neighbourhoods across the city. While the entire city is zoned for laneway housing, just over 2,400 permits to build them have been issued.

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"No Vacancies in California? Housing Report Begs to Differ"

The New York Times | October 25, 2016

California will have to build about 3.5 million homes over the next eight years, more than triple its current pace of construction, simply to keep up with expected population growth and hold down housing costs to affordable levels. But how could the state actually do it?

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"View Vancouver’s modular housing prototype at Robson Square this week"

Daily Hive | October 25, 2016

A temporary pavilion built on the roadway at Robson Square, where Robson Redux installations were previously located, showcases a prototype of the City of Vancouver’s first temporary modular housing project.

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"Go Inside the MicroPAD, a New Solution for San Francisco’s Homeless"

SF HAC | October 24, 2016

Several months ago, local developer Panoramic Interests introduced a creative solution to address San Francisco’s homelessness crisis. Their proposed MicroPAD is a very small housing unit that can be built quickly, affordably and at a scale that could make a real impact. For two weeks starting October 31, the public will have the opportunity to walk inside one of these homes and experience it themselves.

What is the MicroPAD?
It stands for Prefabricated Affordable Dwelling.

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"Housing development’s latest enemy: Bay Area construction unions"

SF Business Times | October 24, 2016

Construction unions have traditionally been advocates for new development, for an obvious reason: It keeps their members employed.

That delicate alliance is now coming under threat. Angered by some developers’ attempts to use cheaper non-union labor, Bay Area construction unions have filed appeals challenging projects’ approvals and allied themselves with community groups who oppose the projects for different reasons.

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"A new approach: Build steel modular housing units for the homeless"

The Seattle Times | October 24, 2016

From Oct 3, 2016

Tents, wooden sheds and RVs do not provide the kind of stable and supportive housing in which an individual or family in homelessness can begin to deal with the issues in their lives.

LIKE most Seattleites, I am alternately frustrated, incredulous and dismayed by the number of homeless individuals I encounter every day while walking, driving or just living my life in Seattle.

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