Hoodline Covers the First of Our New Homes in The Ville
Module Building Systems
Hoodline reported on Oct. 27, 2026 that crews raised the first of our new homes in The Ville, setting prefabricated wall panels near Sumner High School for a City of St. Louis pilot on long-vacant lots. Module Building Systems (MBS) builds those panels in our North St. Louis plant, and an MBS crew member guided them into place.
The story, Crews Raise First Modular Home in The Ville Near Sumner High School by Gideon Hurst, draws on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's coverage of the day and on the city's announcements about the pilot. Hoodline reports that officials hope to repeat the approach in other parts of St. Louis that need housing.
It was a good Tuesday on the north side.
What did Hoodline report about The Ville?
Hoodline reported that the first house in the city's pilot began taking shape on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when crews guided factory-built wall panels into place near Sumner High School. The article calls it the visible start of construction on lots that have sat empty for years.
The pilot traces back to a resolution the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) took to its board in December 2025 to select a builder for new homes in North St. Louis. The SLDC announcement placed the homes on vacant land held by the Land Reutilization Authority and the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, in an area hit by the May 16, 2025 tornado. We covered the board vote in St. Louis approves MBS to build on city land.
We were selected through the City of St. Louis Infill RFP to build single-family and row homes on city-owned land in The Ville. The article notes the homes go on permanent foundations and meet local building codes, which is how every MBS home is built.
What is MBS building in The Ville?
MBS is building single-family and row homes in The Ville from two of our three-bedroom infill designs, The Malone and The Malone Rowhomes. The project is listed on our projects page as the Greater Ville Infill Housing, in production.
The wall panels Hoodline saw going up were cut and framed in our 40,000 sq ft plant at 921 N 20th Street, a short drive from The Ville. On the line, the CNC crosscut saw cuts studs and plates to length, the CNC subcomponent nailer builds headers and door legs, and the multi-bridge nails the sheathing and routes the window and door openings. At MBS, the agreed package defines factory completion. We supply framing subcomponents, bare framed panels and sheathed panels. More complete assemblies may include windows, doors, cladding, insulation or MEP rough-ins when specified. For this first home, the wall panels left the plant closed, with insulation, a weather barrier and windows already in.
The factory builds while the site crew pours the foundation. Then the panels ship flat-packed on a standard flatbed and go up in the order the crew sets them. That is why a house frame can go up on a narrow city lot quickly, with no lumber pile sitting on the block.
The first home in The Ville, day by day
These photos follow the first home from our plant floor to a two-story shell on its lot. Panelized homes are assembled on site in days, not weeks, compared with traditional construction. Results depend on scope, approvals, site readiness, materials and logistics.
Tuesday, Oct. 20
In our plant, the wall panels for the first home are finished as closed panels: framed, insulated and wrapped in a weather barrier, with windows installed.
Monday, Oct. 26
On the lot in The Ville, our floor panels (floor cassettes) are installed on the foundation, ready for the walls.
Tuesday, Oct. 27, morning
A load of wall panels leaves the plant on a flatbed while the crane starts setting the first walls on the lot.
Tuesday, Oct. 27, late morning
Our crew guides each panel onto the deck, and the first-floor walls stand with windows in. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographed the same work: MBS crew members guiding walls into place.
Wednesday, Oct. 28
The Post-Dispatch was on site again and photographed an MBS crew member packing up equipment after the day's work.
Thursday, Oct. 29
The two-story shell stands, with the second floor framed and windows in on both levels.
Is the new home in The Ville a manufactured home?
Hoodline calls it a modular home, which is how many people describe any factory-built house. What went up on Tuesday is panelized construction. Panelized construction is a way of building where wall, floor and roof panels are made in a factory, shipped flat and set on a permanent foundation on site.
The finished house is conventional wood framing. It is not a HUD-code manufactured home, and it is not a volumetric modular box trucked in on an oversize load. Hoodline cited our website on that point, and it matters for the families who will live here: inspection, financing and appraisal follow the same path as any site-built home.
Why does the pilot start in The Ville?
The Ville is one of three neighborhoods in A Stronger Northside, the plan the city adopted in December 2025 as the first new neighborhood plan in the tornado zone. The plan calls for restoring existing homes and building new ones on land bank lots. The city has thousands of those lots, and our post on vacant lots in North St. Louis walks through how they come back as homes.
Our plant sits in North St. Louis on purpose. A house framed on North 20th Street and raised in The Ville keeps the work and the home in the same part of town.
About Module Building Systems
Module Building Systems (MBS) is a panelized offsite construction company founded in 2023 and based at 921 N 20th Street in St. Louis, Missouri. We build wall, floor and roof panel packages in a 40,000 sq ft CNC manufacturing facility and ship them flat-packed within 1,000 miles. Projects run up to 30% lower in cost and up to 50% faster, with up to 90% less waste. Actual schedules depend on project scope, approvals, site readiness, materials and logistics. Learn more about MBS.
Frequently asked questions
Who is building the new homes in The Ville?
Module Building Systems (MBS), a panelized construction company in North St. Louis. The City of St. Louis selected MBS through its Infill RFP to build single-family and row homes on city-owned land in The Ville. Crews set the first home's wall panels near Sumner High School on Oct. 27, 2026, as Hoodline reported.
Are the homes in The Ville modular homes?
News reports call them modular. They are panelized: wall panels built in our factory and set on a permanent, site-built foundation, finished as conventional wood framing. They are not manufactured homes and not volumetric modular boxes, so inspection, financing and appraisal follow the site-built path.
What is the city's pilot in The Ville?
The St. Louis Development Corporation took a resolution to its board in December 2025 to select a builder for new homes on vacant lots held by the city's land bank and its redevelopment authority. The goal is new construction on lots that have sat empty for years, with a model the city can repeat in other neighborhoods.
When will the homes in The Ville be finished?
Hoodline notes that the final number of homes and move-in dates are not yet settled. Timing depends on permits, foundation readiness on each lot and the order the panels are delivered and set. Our plant builds the panels while site crews pour foundations, so the two jobs overlap instead of stacking.
Read the coverage
Read the full story at Hoodline: Crews Raise First Modular Home in The Ville Near Sumner High School, by Gideon Hurst, Oct. 27, 2026.
Earlier coverage: the Post-Dispatch Brick City newsletter on our North St. Louis housing pilot, Dec. 24, 2025.
See the St. Louis Post-Dispatch photos by Christian Gooden, "Pilot program erects modular homes in The Ville": Oct. 27, 2026 and Oct. 28, 2026.
See where the panels are built
Factory tours run Monday to Friday at our plant on North 20th Street. Book a factory tour, get an estimate or email info@modulebs.com.
Hoodline reported on Oct. 27, 2026 that crews raised the first of our new homes in The Ville, setting prefabricated wall panels near Sumner High School for a City of St. Louis pilot on long-vacant lots. Module Building Systems (MBS) builds those panels in our North St. Louis plant, and an MBS crew member guided them into place.
The story, Crews Raise First Modular Home in The Ville Near Sumner High School by Gideon Hurst, draws on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's coverage of the day and on the city's announcements about the pilot. Hoodline reports that officials hope to repeat the approach in other parts of St. Louis that need housing.
It was a good Tuesday on the north side.
What did Hoodline report about The Ville?
Hoodline reported that the first house in the city's pilot began taking shape on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when crews guided factory-built wall panels into place near Sumner High School. The article calls it the visible start of construction on lots that have sat empty for years.
The pilot traces back to a resolution the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) took to its board in December 2025 to select a builder for new homes in North St. Louis. The SLDC announcement placed the homes on vacant land held by the Land Reutilization Authority and the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, in an area hit by the May 16, 2025 tornado. We covered the board vote in St. Louis approves MBS to build on city land.
We were selected through the City of St. Louis Infill RFP to build single-family and row homes on city-owned land in The Ville. The article notes the homes go on permanent foundations and meet local building codes, which is how every MBS home is built.
What is MBS building in The Ville?
MBS is building single-family and row homes in The Ville from two of our three-bedroom infill designs, The Malone and The Malone Rowhomes. The project is listed on our projects page as the Greater Ville Infill Housing, in production.
The wall panels Hoodline saw going up were cut and framed in our 40,000 sq ft plant at 921 N 20th Street, a short drive from The Ville. On the line, the CNC crosscut saw cuts studs and plates to length, the CNC subcomponent nailer builds headers and door legs, and the multi-bridge nails the sheathing and routes the window and door openings. At MBS, the agreed package defines factory completion. We supply framing subcomponents, bare framed panels and sheathed panels. More complete assemblies may include windows, doors, cladding, insulation or MEP rough-ins when specified. For this first home, the wall panels left the plant closed, with insulation, a weather barrier and windows already in.
The factory builds while the site crew pours the foundation. Then the panels ship flat-packed on a standard flatbed and go up in the order the crew sets them. That is why a house frame can go up on a narrow city lot quickly, with no lumber pile sitting on the block.
The first home in The Ville, day by day
These photos follow the first home from our plant floor to a two-story shell on its lot. Panelized homes are assembled on site in days, not weeks, compared with traditional construction. Results depend on scope, approvals, site readiness, materials and logistics.
Tuesday, Oct. 20
In our plant, the wall panels for the first home are finished as closed panels: framed, insulated and wrapped in a weather barrier, with windows installed.
Monday, Oct. 26
On the lot in The Ville, our floor panels (floor cassettes) are installed on the foundation, ready for the walls.
Tuesday, Oct. 27, morning
A load of wall panels leaves the plant on a flatbed while the crane starts setting the first walls on the lot.
Tuesday, Oct. 27, late morning
Our crew guides each panel onto the deck, and the first-floor walls stand with windows in. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographed the same work: MBS crew members guiding walls into place.
Wednesday, Oct. 28
The Post-Dispatch was on site again and photographed an MBS crew member packing up equipment after the day's work.
Thursday, Oct. 29
The two-story shell stands, with the second floor framed and windows in on both levels.
Is the new home in The Ville a manufactured home?
Hoodline calls it a modular home, which is how many people describe any factory-built house. What went up on Tuesday is panelized construction. Panelized construction is a way of building where wall, floor and roof panels are made in a factory, shipped flat and set on a permanent foundation on site.
The finished house is conventional wood framing. It is not a HUD-code manufactured home, and it is not a volumetric modular box trucked in on an oversize load. Hoodline cited our website on that point, and it matters for the families who will live here: inspection, financing and appraisal follow the same path as any site-built home.
Why does the pilot start in The Ville?
The Ville is one of three neighborhoods in A Stronger Northside, the plan the city adopted in December 2025 as the first new neighborhood plan in the tornado zone. The plan calls for restoring existing homes and building new ones on land bank lots. The city has thousands of those lots, and our post on vacant lots in North St. Louis walks through how they come back as homes.
Our plant sits in North St. Louis on purpose. A house framed on North 20th Street and raised in The Ville keeps the work and the home in the same part of town.
About Module Building Systems
Module Building Systems (MBS) is a panelized offsite construction company founded in 2023 and based at 921 N 20th Street in St. Louis, Missouri. We build wall, floor and roof panel packages in a 40,000 sq ft CNC manufacturing facility and ship them flat-packed within 1,000 miles. Projects run up to 30% lower in cost and up to 50% faster, with up to 90% less waste. Actual schedules depend on project scope, approvals, site readiness, materials and logistics. Learn more about MBS.
Frequently asked questions
Who is building the new homes in The Ville?
Module Building Systems (MBS), a panelized construction company in North St. Louis. The City of St. Louis selected MBS through its Infill RFP to build single-family and row homes on city-owned land in The Ville. Crews set the first home's wall panels near Sumner High School on Oct. 27, 2026, as Hoodline reported.
Are the homes in The Ville modular homes?
News reports call them modular. They are panelized: wall panels built in our factory and set on a permanent, site-built foundation, finished as conventional wood framing. They are not manufactured homes and not volumetric modular boxes, so inspection, financing and appraisal follow the site-built path.
What is the city's pilot in The Ville?
The St. Louis Development Corporation took a resolution to its board in December 2025 to select a builder for new homes on vacant lots held by the city's land bank and its redevelopment authority. The goal is new construction on lots that have sat empty for years, with a model the city can repeat in other neighborhoods.
When will the homes in The Ville be finished?
Hoodline notes that the final number of homes and move-in dates are not yet settled. Timing depends on permits, foundation readiness on each lot and the order the panels are delivered and set. Our plant builds the panels while site crews pour foundations, so the two jobs overlap instead of stacking.
Read the coverage
Read the full story at Hoodline: Crews Raise First Modular Home in The Ville Near Sumner High School, by Gideon Hurst, Oct. 27, 2026.
Earlier coverage: the Post-Dispatch Brick City newsletter on our North St. Louis housing pilot, Dec. 24, 2025.
See the St. Louis Post-Dispatch photos by Christian Gooden, "Pilot program erects modular homes in The Ville": Oct. 27, 2026 and Oct. 28, 2026.
See where the panels are built
Factory tours run Monday to Friday at our plant on North 20th Street. Book a factory tour, get an estimate or email info@modulebs.com.