Using prefabricated modular units, a new 65-residence housing complex breaking ground in Midway City could be ready in 12 months.
That speed means spending less to create much-needed affordable housing, officials said. And that is quality housing.
American Family Housing held a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) American Family Housing held a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) CalOptima Health CEO Michael Hunn speaks during a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Casa Paloma, built by American Family Housing, was built using prefabricated modular units in Midway City, CA. Nearby, the group is building a similar complex with 65 units. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Casa Paloma, built by American Family Housing, was built using prefabricated modular units in Midway City, CA. Nearby, the group is building a similar complex with 65 units. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Potters Lane on Jackson Street in Midway City, CA is made up of reused shipping containers. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) American Family Housing CEO Milo Peinemann speaks during a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) American Family Housing CEO Milo Peinemann holds a umbrella for Nichole Gideon during a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Gideon was formerly homeless and is now a board member of American Family Housing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) American Family Housing held a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) in Garden Grove, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 10American Family Housing held a groundbreaking for Casa Colibri, a 65-unit housing complex in Midway City, CA on Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG) ExpandAmerican Family Housing is building the project, with CalOptima Health and the county among the contributors of funding and financing assistance. The housing nonprofit completed a similar project, the 71-unit Casa Paloma, less than a block away in 2022, and has apartment complexes under development in Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach.
“We are saving between $30,000 and $50,000 per unit, which could be in the millions for a project this size, ” said CEO Milo Peinemann.
Casa Colibri will include 50 units designated for people who were formerly homeless and will have supportive services available to the residents, who will all be private renters. The remaining units will be rented to families in lower-income brackets.
CalOptima, the administrator of public health care insurance for the county’s lowest-income residents, helped America Family Housing with neary $2.5 million in funding for the project.
“Homelessness isn’t healthy for anyone,” CalOptima CEO Michael Hunn said in a statement. “Housing is health, and this grant will help those families facing housing insecurity and homelessness.”
OC Health Care Agency is partnering on the project to provide “wraparound services” for the residents, including those renting for the first time after being homeless and those with mental health issues, said Ian Kemmer, deputy director of behavioral health services for the county.
There will be case management services, support from peers who have lived the same experiences, counseling, help with getting care and education on independent living skills, he said, all elements to promote success.
“Then we do groups to just encourage community building so that folks are supported within their own housing unit,” he said, adding there will also be exercise classes and programs targeting general well-being. “All of that is designed to ensure that folks stay in their housing.”
The modular units that will make up their future homes are already in Orange County.
Unlike a third nearby housing project, Potter’s Lane, that is made from repurposed shipping containers, these modular units are built from wood and come from the factory with flooring and other finishes in place.
Using cranes, they will be stacked on the prepared foundation and assembled into an apartment complex that, once wrapped with a facade and landscaped, looks like any other, Peinemann said.
“It is going to go really fast,” he said.
And, because the units are built in a factory, his team could inspect them and make adjustments along the way, he said. “I like the quality control I get.”
The team can also do the “punch list” inspections of the units and make fixes early in the process, not at the end, delaying when the homes can be rented.
All of this means fewer issues during the building process to slow down completion, Peinemann said.
A quicker build, that is less intensive than a ground-up construction, also means less in insurance and related costs, he said. “We save most of the money just by going faster; it is huge.”
There are some efforts in the state to encourage more modular building to address housing needs, said Peinemann, a fan, but there can be some downsides. One being that developers have to reserve the assembly line time in advance of the units being built, which could be financially challenging for a nonprofit.
“I do think this is the wave of the future. We do it whenever it makes sense, which is when the project is large enough and, if it is too tight of a location, it doesn’t work. But for a site like this, where we have all the room to work with, it is perfect. It is great.”
Potter’s Lane, he said, was about making a “bold statement about the shipping containers and innovation” and the possibilities available for addressing affordable housing.
“Here we are really just talking about efficiency,” he said about choosing the modular wood units. “What I like about this building is, it is nice. It is just a nice, high-quality building.”
Peinemann and Kemmer agreed the county needs more permanent housing that puts people who need a little help, who can’t afford market rates, into homes.
“If we don’t build more housing like that, we will never address homelessness. We will never do it,” Peinemann said. “There will always be a segment of the population that needs permanent housing.
“We aren’t building enough. There aren’t enough getting approved. There is not enough money to push them forward,” he added. “We need it to make sense for people to do.
“We are trying to make the case to the larger world that listen, by using modular, we are not wasting five minutes about making sure we are going to use the money we have well,” Peinemann said. “We need a lot more of this.”
With the quality of the homes and the support services, Kemmer said these can be forever homes for the residents. “And for folks who haven’t ever had that.”
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