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As Americans struggle under backbreaking rental prices, builders are turning to innovative ways to churn out more housing, from 3D printing to assembling homes in an indoor factory to using hempyes, the marijuana cousinto make building blocks for walls.It’s a response to the country’s shortfall of millions of homes that has led to skyrocketing prices, plunging millions into poverty.“There’s not enough homes to purchase and there’s not enough places to rent. Period,” said Adrianne Todman, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President Joe Biden.One way to quickly build more is embrace these types of innovations, Todman said. “I can only imagine what our housing situation would be like now if we could have made a decision to be more aggressive in adopting this type of housing.”So what are these new ways of building homes? And can they help reduce the cost of new housing, leading to lower rents? Factory-built housing put together in a week In a cavernous, metal hall, Eric Schaefer stood in front of a long row of modular homes that moved through the plant, similar to a car on an assembly line.At a series of stations, workers lay flooring, erected framing, added roofs and screwed on drywall. Everything from electrical wiring to plumbing to kitchen countertops were in place before the homes were shrink-wrapped and ready to be shipped.The business in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Fading West, has pumped out more than 500 homes in its just over three years of operation, each taking just five to seven days to build, even in the coldest winter months, Schaefer said.Once assembled in the plant, the narrow townhouse-style homes with white trim, balconies and front porches, are about 90% done. At their final destination they are move-in ready within six weeks, Schaefer said.The company works with towns, counties and housing nonprofits to help address the shortage of affordable homes, mostly for workers who’ve been squeezed out by sky-high prices in ritzy mountain towns.That includes Eagle, Colorado, not far from the Vail ski resort, where Fading West worked with Habitat for Humanity to install modular homes at affordable rents for teachers and other school district employees. The homes tend to be on the smaller side, but can be multifamily or single family.“You can build faster. The faster you buildeven at a high qualitymeans the lower the price,” Schaefer said. “We see this as one of the pieces to the puzzle in helping solve the affordable housing crisis.”There’s a hefty upfront cost to build the factory, and part of the challenge is a lack of state and federal investment, he said. A patchwork of building codes governing how a structure can be built also makes it difficult, requiring changes to the construction depending on the town or county it is being sent to.Manufactured housing is similar to modular housing, but the units are constructed on a chassislike a trailerand they aren’t subject to the same local building codes. That’s part of the reason they are used more broadly across the U.S.Roughly 100,000 manufactured homes were shipped to states in 2024, up from some 60,000 a decade earlier, according to Census Bureau data. Estimates of modular homes built annually often put them below 20,000. 3D printing is innovative but still ‘a long game’ Yes, there’s technology to 3D print homes.A computer-controlled robotic arm equipped with a hose and nozzle moves back and forth, oozing lines of concrete, one on top of the other, as it builds up the wall of a home. It can go relatively quickly and form curved walls unlike concrete blocks.Grant Hamel, CEO and co-founder of VeroTouch, stood inside one of the homes his company built, the wall behind him made out of rolling layers of concrete, distinct to a 3D printer. The technology could eventually reduce labor costs and the time it takes to build an abode, but is farther off than manufactured or modular methods from making a dent in the housing crisis.It’s “a long game, to start chipping away at those prices at every step of the construction process,” Hamel said.The 3D printers are expensive, and so are the engineers and other skilled employees needed to run them, said Ali Memari, director of the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, whose work has partly focused on 3D printing. It’s also not recognized by international building codes, which puts up more red tape.The technology is also generally restricted to single-story structures, unless traditional building methods are used as well, Memari saidIt’s “a technology at its beginning, it has room to grow, especially when it is recognized in code,” Memari said. “The challenges that I mentioned exist, and they have to be addressed by the research community.” A hemp-and-lime mixture called hempcrete has ‘a bright future’ Hempthe plant related to marijuanais being used more and more in the construction of walls.The hemp is mixed with other materials, most importantly the mineral lime, forming “hempcrete,” a natural insulation that’s mold- and fire-resistant and can act as outer wall, insulation and inner wall.Hempcrete still requires wood studs to frame the walls, but it replaces three wall-building components with just one, said Memari, also a professor at Penn State University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Memari is now helping oversee research into making hempcrete that doesn’t need the wood studs.As much as a million hemp plants to be used for hempcrete can grow on one acre in a matter of months as opposed to trees, which can take years or decades to grow.The plant is part of the cannabis family but has far less of the psychoactive component, THC, found in marijuana. In 2018, Congress legalized the production of certain types of hemp. Last year, the International Code Council, which develops international building codes used by all 50 states, adopted hempcrete as an insulation.Confusion over the legality of growing hemp and the price tag of the machine required to process the plant, called a decorticator, are barriers to hempcrete becoming more widespread in housing construction, Memari said.Still, he said, “hempcrete has a bright future.” Associated Press video journalist Thomas Peipert contributed to this report from Buena Vista, Colorado. Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press/Report for America
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After years of struggling with the complexities of a merger that saw the combination of two major discount retailers a decade ago, Dollar Tree has decided to cut ties with Family Dollar. The company has announced an agreement to divest its Family Dollar business to private equity firms Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for $1 billion, a strategic move that aims to streamline operations and enhance focus on its core Dollar Tree segment. Following the announcement, Dollar Tree’s shares surged nearly 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday. The deal is part of the companys ongoing efforts to improve performance, with CEO Rick Dreiling emphasizing that the divestiture “enables us to better allocate capital and resources to support our long-term growth strategy.” The transaction is expected to be completed later this year. Writing on the wall The 2015 merger of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, initially viewed as a strategic move to expand market reach, ultimately highlighted the complexities of integrating large retail operations. The decision to divest Family Dollar reflects a reassessment of strategic priorities and a focus on core business operations. During Q4 of fiscal 2023, the company announced that it had initiated a “comprehensive store portfolio optimization review.” This review focused on, among other things, identifying underperforming stores for closure. Following Dollar Trees Q1 results for 2024, there were hints that the company might spin off Family Dollar to focus on its core business after it announced it would close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of fiscal year 2024 and 370 more over a period of a few years as their lease terms expire. Dollar Tree said in its earnings report on Wednesday that it closed 695 stores in fiscal 2024 as part of its review. Dollar Tree has not yet responded to Fast Company‘s inquiry regarding whether additional store closures are now anticipated. A new chapter With Brigade and Macellum’s backing, Family Dollar is poised for future success, according to Mike Creedon, CEO of Dollar Tree, as the discount retailer transitions into a new phase of growth. Under the experienced, dynamic leadership of Family Dollar President Jason Nordin, and with the financial support of Brigade and Macellum, Family Dollar will be well-positioned for growth as a private company, said Creedon in a statement. With the support of a dedicated team, Family Dollar will be able to strengthen its commitment to providing affordable and essential goods to customers so they can do more with less. Fast Company also reached out to Brigade Capital Management to ask if it planned to make any additional reductions to Family Dollar’s physical footprint
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The deadline to file your taxes is less than a month away, and if you’re doing them for the first time, you might be feeling added pressure.“It’s an incredibly daunting and stressful experience for many of them,” said Miklos Ringbauer, a certified public accountant based California.Planning ahead, doing your research and talking with experts can help first-time filers feel better about their taxes, Ringbauer said.The deadline to file your 2024 taxes is April 15. If you run out of time, you can file for an extension until Oct. 15. The extension is only to file your taxes, not to pay them. If you think you will owe taxes, you should pay an estimated amount before the deadline to avoid paying penalties and interest. If you expect to receive a refund, you will still get your money when you file your taxes.Here are some expert recommendations if you are filing taxes for the first time: Gather your documents The first step is to gather all the relevant documentation, said Eva Simpson, vice president of Member Value, Tax & Advisory Services for the American Institute of CPAs.“Tracking down documentation is key, especially if they may be in college and have correspondence sent to their parents house,” Simpson said.Ringbauer also recommends that you make a folder, either physical or electronic, with all of the documents you need so it’s easier to file your taxes.While the required documents might depend on your individual case, here is a general list of what everyone needs: Social Security number W-2 forms, if you are employed 1099-G, if you are unemployed 1099 forms, if you are self-employed Savings and investment records Any eligible deduction, such as educational expenses, medical bills, charitable donations, etc. Tax credits, such as child tax credit, retirement savings contributions credit, etc. Talk to your parents Many young adults are still receiving some financial help from their parents when they’re ready to file their taxes for the first time. It’s important that first-time filers communicate with their parents in case they are being claimed as dependents, Simpson said.“Being claimed as a dependent affects their standard deduction and eligibility for certain credits,” said Simpson.Having a conversation with your parents will prevent you from claiming tax credits that you might not qualify for if they claim you as a dependent. If your parents claim you as a dependent, you will add this information to your tax return. Know about tax credits and deductions Knowing if you are eligible for any tax credits and deductions is a crucial step when filing your taxes, Simpson said. Tax credits can lower the amount of taxes you owe or increase the amount of your refund. Some relevant tax credits for first-time filers include the American Opportunity tax credit and the Earned Income credit.When it comes to deductions, you can either opt for a standard deduction or itemize. Itemizing generally only makes sense if your itemized deductions add up to more than the current standard deduction of $14,600 for a single filer and $29,200 for a married couple.“In many cases, first-time filers won’t need to be itemizing their expenses,” said Simpson.Doing research or asking a professional for the types of deductions and tax credits you qualify for can save you money. Include investments and gig economy income If you freelance, work in rideshare or sell your clothes online in addition to your part- or full-time job, you must add this income to your tax returns, said Tim McGrath, a certified financial planner based in Chicago.Forgetting to add tax income from freelance work in your tax documents is a common mistake by young filers, Ringbauer said.Some gig workers receive 1099 forms from their employers while others don’t, but both must document their income and expenses so they can be added to their tax returns. Know the resources available Simpson recommends that first-time filers look into the multiple resources available to file taxes for free or at a low cost. One of the is the new Direct File program, which allows people in 25 states who have very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS for free.Aside from Direct File, IRS offers free guided tax preparation that does the math for you. This is available for people who make $79,000 or less per year. If you have questions while working on your tax forms, the IRS also offers an interactive tax assistant tool that can provide answers based on your information.The AARP also offers a tax-aid locator where you can search for tax assistance near you. Double check to avoid mistakes Mistakes can happen to everybody, but deliberately ignoring income can have more consequences, Ringbauer said. In general, if you make a mistake our you’re missing something in your tax return, the IRS will audit you, which means they will ask you for more documentation.A common mistake is failing to declare a source of income such as gig work or selling products online, said Ringbauer. This, he said, should be taken very seriously.“One of the biggest challenges is not taking it seriously, not caring about the nuances,” Ringbauer said. “It has to be accurate and exact information whether you self prepare or you’re doing it with a professional, because life is exact.”If you need to correct an error in a tax return you already filed, you can file an amended return. Keep your records It’s always good practice to keep a record of your tax returns, just in case the IRS audits you for an item you reported years ago, Ringbauer said. The IRS recommends that you keep your documents for at least three years and up to seven depending on your situation.Ringbauer recommends that his clients keep records of their tax documents in a digital folder on a cloud platform of their choosing. Password-protecting your tax folders can also add an extra layer of protection against scammers. The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Adriana Morga, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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