Tampa nonprofit will use 3D-printed homes in new affordable community
- Tiffany Clark
- Sep 30
- 2 min read
By Breanne Williams – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal
An affordable housing community in Tampa is embracing innovation as its developer plans to incorporate 3D-printed homes into the project.
The Knoll Pine Way community is being built at 5055 Knoll Pine Way in northeast Tampa. It lies just a few blocks from the Hillsborough River and is two blocks west of North 56th Street. The community is being built by The Corporation to Develop Communities in Tampa, and the groundbreaking was held on Sept. 25.
In total, the project will feature 18 affordable homes, four of which will have their exterior walls built using 3D printers. These are among the first 3D-printed homes built by the nonprofit.
Each 1,200-square-foot home will include three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The homes are reserved for those making 80% or less of the area median income.
Hillsborough County contributed $2.4 million to the project.
Though still a relatively new concept in Tampa Bay, 3D technology has been implemented in the construction industry for more than 70 years. In 1939, inventor William Urschel created a 3D-printed concrete building using an automatic ramming mechanism that essentially compressed the concrete into smooth layers.
The invention of 3D printers saves time and costs on projects. Lennar — one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S. — and 3D technology company Icon are currently printing 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas. It is the largest 3D-printed housing development in the world. It uses 11 machines, which results in the completion of two homes a week.
Icon told CNBC that each printer can operate 24 hours a day and does the job of more than a dozen construction workers. Lennar is now planning its second 3D-printed community in Texas with Icon, which will feature 200 homes.
The first 3D-printed home in Florida was completed in October 2022 in Tallahassee.
The CDC of Tampa was founded in 1992 — originally it was known as the Lee Davis Neighborhood Development Corp. — and works to “connect workforce development, housing and real estate with education, resident engagement and community safety,” according to the nonprofit.
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