COLUMBUS, Ohio — As cities across the state try to find ways to build more housing, there’s a company in Columbus that’s trying to speed up the process.

What You Need To Know

  • Connect Housing Blocks is stacking apartment modules in a Columbus neighborhood

  • The stackable modules cut the number of workers who are needed on site by more than 90%

  • These apartments weigh up to 20,000 pounds each and are put in place by a crane

“...everything else is made in a factory, so we’re stacking those currently on site," said Brad DeHays, founder of Connect Real Estate and Connect Housing Blocks. 

The insides of the apartments are known as modules, and they're transported to their final destination one-by-one.

“We just started stacking units in July and already have brick on the exterior, the inside of the units are done," said DeHays.

DeHays said they broke ground back in March and hope to have residents moving in before the end of the year.

“By doing it with modular it cuts about 60% off of the construction time," DeHays said. 

But the innovative process does more than just speed up the timeline. DeHays said it also cuts the number of workers who are needed on site by more than 90%

Still these workers have their jobs cut out for them. These apartments weigh up to 20,000 pounds each and are put in place by a crane.

Once they’re locked in, only touch ups need to be done inside and the brick placed on the exterior.

“By doing this we could really prove what we’re capable of right off the bat," DeHays said. 

DeHays hopes that by building these apartments in a Columbus neighborhood that gets a lot of foot traffic, it will open up the doors for future opportunities.

“We get over 450,000 people a year through the market doors directly across the street so we felt by doing our first major project here and a complex one that we would be able to have a marquee vision of what we can do," DeHays said.