VALLEJO -- Blu Homes, a manufacturer of prefabricated and sustainability-focused homes and structures with a plant in Vallejo, today announced that it acquired the intellectual assets of San Francisco-based Modern Cabana.
[caption id="attachment_64810" align="alignleft" width="300"] Launched in 2004 as a manufacturer of prefabricated accessory structures, Modern Cabana was acquired by Blu Homes in November. (photo credit: Blu Homes)[/caption]
The acquisition will help Blu Homes deploy new product lines in 2013. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Launched in 2004, Modern Cabana (moderncabana.com) developed a line of quick-to-assemble prefabricated structures designed as add-ons to existing homes. More than 100 of the structures have been sold, according to Blu Homes spokeswoman Dana Smith. The units are designed for uses such as a garden office or shop space and range in price from $11,500 to more than $30,000.
Those structures can typically be constructed over the course of a weekend and without a construction permit, according to the announcement. Blu Homes will spend the next few months tweaking the designs to integrate more closely with their existing products, Ms. Smith said.
Construction of Modern Cabana units will be moved from San Francisco to the Blu Homes factory in Vallejo. Pricing for the new line will be announced with the rollout of units next year.
Blu Homes (866-887-7997, bluhomes.com), based in San Francisco and Massachusetts, has seen demand increase nationally and is currently considering construction of a second assembly line, Ms. Smith said.
In October, the the company announced a partnership with Homeward Bound of Marin for a $4 million, 14-unit supportive housing development in Novato. Blu Homes also recently completed a model home for its first development project, a 200-acre, 11-lot project in Colombia County, New York.
Another local designer and builder of quick-build small accessory spaces is San Rafael-based YardPods (415-299-1924, yardpods.com), started in 2010 by Malcolm Davies and Marvin Mauer.
In March and April of this year, students in engineering, sustainable construction, alternative energy and physics, and business marketing and management classes at Vintage High School in Napa constructed and marketed for sale a YardPods-designed unit with various wall- and roof-construction systems. The project was funded via a California Partnership Academy Green Technology Grant and supervised by Crowley Builders of Grass Valley.
