One in five residents across the New River Valley struggle to find housing in their budget, according to a report published last year by the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech.
Pulaski Mayor Shannon Collins said the housing shortage has gotten even worse in the past year. “We have no housing. Anything that goes on the market sells like that.”
So he welcomed the news that a company wanted to build two homes in Pulaski using 3-D technology.
Each will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The exterior walls will be concrete that’s printed on site, using a robot.
Zachary Mannheimer is founder and CEO of Alquist, the company behind the project. He said rural communities have an opportunity to innovate now, especially a small town like Pulaski, which is located in the New River Valley.
“You’ve got a large population of people of people that can’t afford to live in some of those larger places anymore, and they’re looking for communities like Pulaski,” Mannheimer said.
Nikki Pynn is a resident of Radford, and said the New River Valley does need more housing. “But it needs to be affordable housing. More housing is geared and sold to people outside the area, which makes it harder for the locals to afford what they can afford around here.”
Alquist hasn’t yet announced the price for the Pulaski houses. Last year they built a similar house in Williamsburg, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. A single mother bought that home, which appraised for $238,000.
Manneimer said they’ll make the Pulaski homes “as affordable as possible.”
“It’s good to see Pulaski being first. We’ve been down for a long time, and it’s time for us to come back,” Mayor Collins said.
The Pulaski town council is looking to donate two lots to Alquist, where the 3-D houses will stand, in a vote that’s scheduled for 7 p.m., June 7.
