{"id":30905,"date":"2023-10-30T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/higher-purpose-homes-close-to-having-capital-for-modular-factory-in-mancos\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:29:53","slug":"higher-purpose-homes-close-to-having-capital-for-modular-factory-in-mancos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/higher-purpose-homes-close-to-having-capital-for-modular-factory-in-mancos\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher Purpose Homes close to having capital for modular factory in Mancos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Higher
Higher Purpose Homes co-founder Nick Lemmer works on building roof panels for Pueblo Community College. (Courtesy of Nick Lemmer)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Higher Purpose Homes is taking steps toward building its modular factory in Montezuma County and potentially achieving its goal of building 250 homes per year.<\/p>\n

The Durango-based startup company has been looking for affordable housing solutions in Southwest Colorado since its inception last year.<\/p>\n

Through a combination of applications for Proposition 123 funding and Innovative Housing Incentive Program funding, the company hopes to use that money to build a 49,000-square-foot factory, which would mass produce modular homes.<\/p>\n

Higher Purpose has also raised about $3 million in private investment, which co-founder Nick Lemmer said is around two-thirds of what the company is trying to raise.<\/p>\n

If Higher Purpose receives the necessary funding from Prop. 123 and IHIP, it will start construction on the factory in 2024 with the intention of being functional by early 2025.<\/p>\n

The factory will be located in west Mancos, and Lemmer said it will create about 160 new jobs for the area. He added that employment will also include benefits and the potential to own partial stake in the company.<\/p>\n

The houses Higher Purpose plans to build will be 99% finished by the time they leave the facility to expedite the process of placing them on a plot of land. The company\u2019s plan is to build 250 homes a year, with an emphasis on building one finished home a day.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s desired facility would cost about $6.5 million, including employee wages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main reason for us is building the community,\u201d Lemmer said. \u201cWe\u2019re not interested in just making money off this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the company was one of the Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program\u2019s cohorts for trying to provide a solution to Southwest Colorado\u2019s housing dilemma.<\/p>\n

Higher Purpose Homes looks to build units that will cost about $300,000, but those prices do not include the cost of land. However, Lemmer said while the company can\u2019t control expenses outside of their own, he believes being able to create inventory at an expedited rate will in turn create pressure to decrease housing costs.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s going to cost the company $125 per square foot to build one modular. According to the Durango Area Association of Realtors\u2019 latest quarterly report, the median cost of a La Plata County Home is $657,000 during the third quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n

A key element for the company is to build homes in a sustainable fashion. Lemmer said on-site construction wastes 15% of the used materials, whereas factory building wastes only 3%.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons that Lemmer and co-founder Ethan Deffenbaugh started the company was that they saw the impact housing had on professions such as teaching and health care, both of which their wives have worked in.<\/p>\n

Teacher shortages have been reported across the state, which has pushed school districts like Durango School District 9-R and Ignacio School District to increase teacher pay in order to keep staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife\u2019s a teacher at DHS. She\u2019s seen it firsthand. Ethan\u2019s wife is a nurse and she\u2019s seen it firsthand. He\u2019s been here for 20-plus years and seen friends come and go,\u201d Lemmer said. \u201cMe and my wife, we\u2019ve been here seven years now, and we\u2019ve started seeing it already with friends that we\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other projects the company has been involved with include building roof panels for Pueblo Community College and Habitat for Humanity. Higher Purpose is also working on its first tiny home expansion project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students at PCC are building the floors and the walls and we\u2019re building the roof panels,\u201d Lemmer said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re going to work with them on site to help them set their floors and their walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said an additional room for a tiny home will be built as part of the expansion project.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you\u2019ve got a young couple that can\u2019t afford a three-bedroom (home) or maybe even a two-bedroom, and they can start off with a one bedroom. And then they decide to have to have kids and can\u2019t move somewhere and think maybe we can add on,\u201d Lemmer said of tiny home additions.<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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