Mulligan Meadows modular homes about to go on market; site work begins

Dec 29, 2023

Excavators were at work Thursday digging the second foundation for the initial eight "spec homes" to be installed in North Platte's 51-lot Mulligan Meadows subdivision north of the North Platte Cemetery. The first foundation lies outside the photo to the north. Seven of the first eight homes will front North Adams Avenue, with the eighth at the corner of Adams and West 17th Street.

Modular homes for North Platte's 51-lot Mulligan Meadows subdivision likely will go on sale at month's end, a year after the City Council agreed to sell city-owned land for the "shovel-ready" project to ease housing shortages.

Meanwhile, utility lines have been installed and a second foundation was being dug Thursday for the subdivision's first eight homes facing North Adams Avenue or West 17th Street.

All of the 13.2-acre development's homes will be manufactured by Chief Industries’ BonnaVilla modular home division, said Gary Person, president and CEO of the North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corp.

The firm will offer a variety of energy-efficient three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes of about 1,400 square feet each, BonnaVilla General Manager Mike Morrow said in a recent press release.

BonnaVilla, based in Aurora near Chief's Grand Island base, has been an expected partner since the plan's May 2022 announcement. Council members voted to sell the site and grant the chamber $1.87 million in tax increment financing a year ago next Wednesday.

Person said Thursday that chamber leaders had intended to leave some lots available for other modular suppliers or traditional "stick-built" homes. That changed when homebuilders’ proposals for the project came in.

"Everybody that bid the project wanted to control the whole subdivision, because they wanted it to be representative of what they build," he said. "They don't want something that looks out of place in the subdivision."

BonnaVilla was able to offer its completed homes for an expected sale price in the $260,000 range, Person said. It's costing the chamber about $50,000 a lot upfront to install the infrastructure, a cost TIF will help offset over time.

The Chief affiliate, he added, also intends to use Mulligan Meadows "as a showcase project" for other towns seeking to alleviate their own housing shortages.

If sales for the project near River's Edge Golf Course are slower than BonnaVilla expects, "they can notify us and we can open lots to other potential developers," Person said.

Mulligan Meadows will occupy basically the northern half of 23 acres the city had owned north of the North Platte Cemetery. The southern half remains in the city's hands for future extensions of the cemetery.

Morrow said that BonnaVilla is beginning with eight "spec homes" with garages for homebuyers to consider. They’ll line the two current streets directly south of Educational Service Unit 16's North Platte offices.

Seven of those eight will open onto Adams Avenue, Person said, while the eighth will open onto West 17th but have its garage facing Adams.

He said BonnaVilla's first two spec homes have been built and are waiting at the Aurora factory to be shipped to North Platte once their site preparation is finished.

Buyers of most of Mulligan Meadows’ modular homes will be able to order them with "many customizable amenities," Morrow said in the press release.

Depending on their choices, it’ll take six to nine months to build them in Aurora, he said. Ninety percent of construction work occurs there, which lets homes be finished faster.

"Homes are one of the few things in our lives most people assume are not typically manufactured or assembled in a factory," Morrow said. "But logic would tell you in order to be the most efficient, this is probably the primary way the construction should be done."

Rural areas are struggling to attract traditionally built housing subdivisions "due to the increased costs associated with bringing in the necessary supplies," he added.

"And that's why the modular process works so well in these communities. The builders can simultaneously be pouring foundations while the home is built in sections in a controlled environment off-site."

Person said it's likely that BonnaVilla's first spec house will be shipped to North Platte for installation late this summer. An open house will be held for prospective buyers, he said.

For information on BonnaVilla and a look at its models, visit bonnavilla.com.

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Special projects reporter

I'm a 35-year journalist, near-lifelong Nebraskan, Ogallala product and three-time Telegraph writer.

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