Industrial News

Lindsay Heights is named for an African-American woman named Bernice Copeland-Lindsay, who lived in Milwaukee during the first half of the 20th century. A long-time community activist, she fought for equality in jobs, social practices and housing throughout her adult life.

The goal of the initiative is to restore the value of the inner city neighborhood through a sustainable housing development that includes building new homes on infill lots and restoring existing older homes.
The benefits of a new Lindsay Heights home as described on the project Web site, intended for prospective home buyers, include the high quality of the homes, a 10-15% lower cost than site-built units, better construction quality control, shorter construction time, low maintenance costs, less chance of expensive repairs and energy efficiency. The homes are specifically designed for the older neighborhoods.

The two-story and bungalow homes include features typical of classic Milwaukee residential styles. Base prices for standard homes run from $117,000 to $183,500. To support new home ownership, the Neighborhood Improvement Development Corp. (NIDC) collaborated with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to provide buildable lots. One lot in the project features a home built by Duke Construction Group (now NeoTek Homes) and manufactured by Homes by iBS, Middlebury, IN. By chance, iBS CEO John Guequierre has a personal tie to the project.

“The lot where Duke Construction is using our house lies between Lloyd Street and North Ave on 15th Street. My father grew up three blocks away and my great, great grandfather, the first of our clan in this country and a builder, lived two blocks south of it. I remember walking past all these houses, so I know that neighborhood,” Guequierre says. The original floor plan Duke wanted to use wasn't designed for a narrow lot, so iBS redesigned it. This is one example of the kind of flexibility Guequierre believes is necessary to fully exploit his company's resources. Meanwhile iBS has launched a new focus on infill lots. “It's a good plan for that neighborhood and we've listened to feedback and picked up a few changes,” Guequierre says.

“This is the mindset you have to have. We attune our sales and engineering staff to the fact that this what needs to be done to be successful in infill. We're accumulating a gallery of ideas from both our Indiana and Pennsylvania operations which can be transferred from city to city. There are differences between the two regions but in redevelopment and infill there are lots of commonalities,” Guequierre adds.

Adam Pletcher, chief executive officer for NeoTek Homes, found Milwaukee unlike any other municipality in its approach to the Lindsay Heights neighborhood initiative. Pletcher says, “They are unique in promoting modular design. They are 110 % behind modulars. One advantage is that in the lower income neighborhoods you sometimes get pilferage or vandalism but with modulars you're done in one day and it's weather-tight.”
The lot size limitations called for some careful maneuvering
when the time for setup came, as Pletcher notes.

“Our crane operator is worth his weight in gold,” Pletcher says. “It was an extremely cold day, the windchill factor took it to about zero degrees. He was navigating the sections over the home next to the lot. His crane was between a lightpost and a tree and he had about one inch clearance. That‘s the tightest lot I've ever been involved with,” says Pletcher, “and after that we can do this anywhere.” Pletcher has worked with other builders in the area but he is impressed with Homes by iBS. “They are by far the best we've worked with,” he says. “The quality is there and they stand behind it.”

To see the Fox News report or Automated Builder Article log on to http://www.neotekcorp.com. To find out how you can build your home for tens of thousands less than buying a home feel free to call Adam directly at 847.553.1496.