SOUTH JERSEY

Assembly required: Habitat for Humanity tests modular

Carly Q. Romalino
@CarlyQRomalino
Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Tony Isabella visits the non-profit's first modular home site in Woodbury. They hope building modular homes will cut construction time from one year to about 2 months, and will cut the price per square foot by half. Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

WOODBURY - A 250-foot crane lowered half a house as crews carefully lined it up with the pre-poured foundation.

The Dorsett family watched. They've already completed their required 350 hours with Habitat for Humanity, working on other projects in Gloucester County.

In three months they'll move in to the freshly assembled modular house, exceeding their required work hours to paint, side and install cabinets in their first home on Allen Street.

Three months is the quickest turnaround Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity has ever executed.

The Dorsett house is a test for modular housing, never before used by Habitat for Humanity affiliates in South Jersey, according to Gloucester County branch Executive Director Tony Isabella.

A house built from the ground up by Habitat's volunteer crews — like a two-story Wallace Street home around the corner from the Dorsett's future residence — usually takes up to a year, with volunteer crews working three days a week.

Modular housing — homes prefabricated off-site in pieces and assembled on the property — could change the organization drastically, cutting build times and dropping home prices for low-income buyers by half, Isabella said.

"It's not just Gloucester County. This will affect South Jersey," he said.

Isabella, a retired accountant, only began researching modular housing in the last year.

Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Tony Isabella visits the non-profit's first modular home site in Woodbury. They hope building modular homes will cut construction time from one year to about 2 months, and will cut the price per square foot by half. Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

Work on the Allen Street project began in June when the lot was donated to the organization. Habitat for Humanity razed the existing house and paid for the modular with HOME Funds, a grant received through Gloucester County.

Isabella's staff began drawing up specs for the site in July.

While 4U Construction built the two halves of the modular house, Habitat for Humanity paid crews to pour the foundation for the modular test run. In future modular home sites, the nonprofit will pour the foundation.

The pieces rolled in Tuesday. The house was delivered like a giant kit, including ceiling fans, kitchen cabinets and exterior siding in boxes in the living room.

With the pieces placed, Habitat for Humanity crews — including the Dorsetts — will hang the cabinets, paint and add any other finishings to the house.

Habitat for Humanity buys its home via EDA loan

"I'm really looking to actually being able to work on it," said Derrick Dorsett, who could move into the home with his wife, Kimberly, and two children — 5 and 1 — by February.

"There's a whole lot of excitement. I drive by all the time, seeing how much they get done on the foundation and stuff like that."

All "participant families" must meet financial criteria — including the ability to pay the mortgage, fulfill the 350-work hour requirement and take home maintenance and financial planning classes.

"It's definitely going to give us more space," Dorsett said.

The foursome lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Sewell. Derrick and Kimberly have worked their hours at Pitman's Habitat for Humanity, mowing the lawns at other house sites, and helping build a house in Woodbury.

Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Tony Isabella visits the non-profit's first modular home site in Woodbury. They hope building modular homes will cut construction time from one year to about 2 months, and will cut the price per square foot by half. Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

Dorsett is looking forward to his children playing in the corner lot's yard. His daughter Danica, 5, already picked out her room in the three-bedroom, one-bath house.

By cutting manpower costs with volunteer work, Isabella's Habitat for Humanity chapter has built homes it sells to qualifying families for $85 per square foot. A builder, he said, may charge $100 per square foot.

The modular home drops the price to about $45 per square foot.

The Dorsetts could pay about $52,000, Isabella estimated.

"If we can make the cost lower, we would have a better opportunity to serve more people," Isabella said.

On the traditional work schedule, his organization can complete three to four houses a year.

"I want to build 10 homes a year," he said.

"We want to impact the community in a positive way. … We're trying to increase our community impact."

Carly Q. Romalino; (856) 486-2476; cromalino@gannettnj.com

Example of a finished, traditionally built, home by Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity in Woodbury. The organization hopes building modular homes will cut construction time from one year to about 2 months, and will cut the price per square foot by half. Wednesday, November 25, 2015.