SALT LAKE CITY — The Other Side Village, a community of "tiny homes" aimed at combatting homelessness, is teaming up with a Utah builder to install compact, factory-built homes to get people secure housing faster.
“It’s always exciting when we get a new home into The Other Side Village,” said CEO Preston Cochrane.
WATCH: Other Side Village receives $30 million donation to help residents move beyond homelessness
The latest addition is a newly manufactured home built by Boxabl, with installation handled by KAS Construction, Utah’s premier dealer for the company.
“This is actually a new product,” Cochrane said. “This is a new home that’s manufactured by a company named Boxabl, and our partnership is with KAS Construction.”
Photos from Friday morning show the tiny home being delivered and placed on its foundation in Salt Lake City’s Poplar Grove neighborhood.
“We set it onto its foundation shortly thereafter, and within about two or three hours, completely unfolded and really just ready to put all the furniture in and ready to go,” Cochrane said. “It was an exciting day.”
The Other Side Village is a nonprofit community that provides more permanent housing, employment and training programs to help people experiencing homelessness transition off the streets. The project relies heavily on partnerships with local businesses.
“We have over 40 different partnerships,” Cochrane said. “Most of the major home builders in Utah are involved in some way or another with The Other Side Village, whether it’s building homes or helping coordinate with subcontractors. We always say it takes a village to build a village, and this is a good example of that.”
Two more homes are expected to be installed this week thanks to The Perry Group. Cochrane says those homes could be completed within two weeks, marking the end of Phase One.
Phase One includes 60 homes. The full buildout plan calls for more than 450 homes total.
Phase Two has already been announced, along with a $30 million milestone met in private donations.
“This, along with all the other parts that go together when we all work together toward solving homeless issues, will really make a difference,” said Gail Miller from the Miller Family Foundation during a visit to the village in September.
The project is located at 1882 West Indiana Avenue and continues to draw support from local donors, volunteers, business leaders and elected officials.
Cochrane says there is still work to be done.
“We’re just finishing up Phase One, 60 homes in Phase One, total build is over 450, so we have a ways to go,” he said. “We encourage anyone that’s interested in learning about the project to visit us at theothersidevillage.com.”
