A Las Vegas architect plans a factory in eastern New Orleans to crank out living units of 16 feet by 70 feet that can be quickly assembled and stacked into complexes as high as 12 stories.
Brent Lovett, who was the general contractor for the $331 million Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and the $129 million Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, says that by June 2007 his eastern New Orleans factory will employ as many as 500 people and will begin producing 3,500 living units a year.
Unlike most modular construction, which is produced at a factory and trucked to a site for assembly, Lovett plans complete living units that are furnished, wired, and equipped with all plumbing and finishes. They will have steel frames, concrete floors and exterior walls made of orient strand board or resin-fiber board. The exteriors will be covered with brick veneer.
One-, two- and three-bedroom designs will be available, with the units averaging 1,100 square feet. Unit prices will depend on the finishes put in the modules, but they will run between $60,000 and $120,000.
The units will be available for purchase by individual homeowners looking to use them on vacant lots. But Lovett also hopes to market them to developers and landlords who could use them to create larger apartment-like complexes by stacking them in rectangular or star shapes and installing elevator and stair shafts. Such complexes would allow for parking underneath to ensure that the structure is raised to flood map requirements.
Lovett plans to have two residential towers near his plant for employees in 2008. By the end of this year, Lovett plans to close on the $3.7 million purchase of three warehouses east of Jordan Road and near New Orleans Lakefront Airport that will become the site of his factory.
The largest warehouse is 92,000 square feet and the other two buildings are about 72,000 square feet and 15,000 square feet. Lovett plans to invest $10 million on an initial retrofit of the hurricane-damaged property and a total of $240 million over the next three years.
Lovett has built 4,000 traditional homes, mostly in the western United States where he does business as Bay Resorts International. Lovett is also building two timeshare towers in Las Vegas. The New Orleans factory will be his first project in the local market. He got the idea for stackable units after seeing similar housing in China.
He says his units, which will exceed building codes, are designed as permanent structures.
He's pitching them as a long-term solution for affordable, quickly made multi-family sites.
But Lovett says that the units could be stored as temporary disaster housing anywhere in the United States, pointing out the "waste" of FEMA trailers and so-called Katrina Cottages.
"My dream is that the Department of Homeland Security will eventually buy into the concept. The modules could be pre-positioned in any warehouse and be immediately available when any disaster strikes," he said.
David Quinn of Max Derbes Realtors Inc., who is brokering Lovett's purchase of the New Orleans warehouses from Sealy SHV/NO LP, said the eastern New Orleans sites are appropriately zoned but that Lovett needs to obtain city permits before moving forward.
Lovett, who claims his businesses net $40 million a year, said he will invest his own money in the project and is also in discussions with local representatives from Chase Bank and Capital One for debt financing.
The Rev. Dr. Gregory Thomas of New Orleans was instrumental in bringing Lovett to Louisiana. Thomas introduced Lovett to friend Lonnie Wright of Las Vegas and Lonnie Wright's son, Saron. The two Wrights are partnering with Lovett on the project.
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Greg Thomas can be reached at or (504) 826-3399
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