Modular apartments stack up in Manhattan

A seven-story modular apartment building called the Stack, left, is shown next to a decades-old residence in the Innwood neighborhood of New York. (AP photo: Bebeto Matthews)

NEW YORK In a city piled high with ambitious architecture, a seven-floor structure off the beaten path boasts a distinction of its own: Its billed as the first multistory, modular-built apartment building to open in the nations apartment capital.

Called the Stack, the building near Manhattans northern tip aims to show that while stackable apartments can save builders time and money, modular doesnt have to mean monotonous. Its chunky front embraces its building-block roots, but the apartments interiors defy their boxy components with varied floor plans and stylish fixtures and finishes.

Modular construction assembling a building from prefabricated sections instead of building from scratch on-site has been around for decades, but interest has grown recently around the country and in its biggest city. The worlds tallest modular building, a 32-story apartment tower, is rising in Brooklyn.

Advocates say modular building can trim costs and timetables module factories dont have to worry about bad weather and make construction more consistent. Still, the technique presents special challenges (say, driving a 750-square-foot box over the George Washington Bridge), and not all projects have proven speedy. Some have faced pushback from labor interests, not to mention an image problem: The method is sometimes perceived as cheap and, well, cookie-cutter.

Prefab and modular have somewhat of a stigma associated with it, in some peoples minds, whether its appropriate or not, developer Jeffrey M. Brown said. But this approach can really produce cool buildings.

Jeffrey M. Brown walks July 9 through a two-bedroom apartment in the seven-story modular apartment building, called the Stack, that he co-developed in the Innwood neighborhood of New York. (AP photo: Bebeto Matthews)

Some key facts about modular buildings (in stackable form):

The lay of the land

Modular apartment buildings date at least to Montreals Habitat 67 complex, built for the 1967 Worlds Fair and still a desirable address. Section-stacking construction is still a relatively rarity in the U.S.: about 1 percent of the overall market outside single-family homes, according to the Modular Building Institute, a trade association. But interest has grown in the last 20 years, as some developers embraced the efficiency of piecing together components that come complete with floors, electrical systems, appliances even towel bars to create apartments, hotels, hospitals and more. New York Citys Department of Buildings says 39 modular projects have at least submitted paperwork.

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Modular apartments stack up in Manhattan