FOUNDER OF THE MONTH
RICK HOLLIDAY
FACTORY OS
BY Russell Nichols
You might not associate remote work with construction . But Mare Island-based Factory OS is redesigning the business model by building multifamily homes off-site , then shipping them to the designated location .
“ There was a lot of skepticism , a lack of general confidence from the buying public that this could happen ,” says Rick Holliday , CEO and cofounder , who spent 40 years creating affordable housing and market-rate apartments .
His construction knowledge and network of developers gave him insight behind the scenes . The ongoing labor shortage and rising costs have put the whole industry in a chokehold . In 2015 , Holliday had collaborated with a modular apartment business . That company went under , but he started his own company , Factory OS , in 2017 with Larry Pace , cofounder and chief operating officer . For their base of operations , they purchased a 256,000-square-foot facility on Mare Island , where he says submarines were once built during World War II .
“ I really wanted to utilize off-site construction ,” Holliday says . “ I really think it ’ s the wave of the future .”
According to a 2017 Wall Street Journal story , Google finalized plans for 300 apartment units to be the first order for the modular home startup . Factory OS has completed jobs for four customers in the Bay Area and one in Truckee . The startup has been able to get big investments from Citibank and Autodesk , a digital platform to make designing and constructing buildings easier .
The team has about 450 workers . A second 125,000-square-foot facility opened in September 2020 on Mare Island to meet demand for more highquality affordable housing . In November , Factory OS moved forward with another round of funding , seeking more than $ 50 million .
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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION ? “ First , it saves money . The public is getting frustrated with high costs . We ’ ve got to find ways to do it more efficiently to make the money go further .”
DO YOU HAVE A RECENT EXAMPLE ? “ We had a job for a nonprofit in San Francisco … and saved 30 percent off the building cost , and it was done in half the time . We ’ re demonstrating we can save money and time , and quality ’ s higher .”
For more on Factory OS , read Russell Nichols ’ Startup of the Month column at comstocksmag . com .
106 comstocksmag . com | January 2021