The Faith Group, a leading Aventura, Fla. developer, is the first to bring a breakthrough construction technology to the United States. The economical and efficient forming system, which the company refers to as Advanced Concrete Technology, is used in Asia and South America, and was adopted to U.S. standards and specifications by the developer.
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| The ACT system moves quickly from first pour, which consists of the slab and partitions with electrical and plumbing embedded in it, to final inspection. This method bypasses time consuming tasks and the delays of inspections. |
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| While The Modern Towers’ highest residential building is only eight stories (75 feet), the ACT system can be used for the construction of buildings up to 40 stories. The interior walls for the project were mostly 6-in. concrete walls with 4-in. concrete partitions. |
The family-owned, vertically integrated real estate company is currently using the ACT approach, in partnership with Nelson Delgado of Brickless, to construct The Modern Towers apartment complex south of Miami. The $150 million project will be built for a fraction of the cost and include 10 buildings at eight- and six-story heights, 665 rental units, two swimming pools, two clubhouses, two six-story freestanding parking structures, as well as commercial space.
The project broke ground in November 2019 and is expected to be completed this month. The expedited timeline is due to ACT, which The Faith Group says will permanently alter the development, real estate and construction landscapes within the U.S. by setting new standards for the development and construction of apartments, hotels and affordable housing complexes.
“We all know the phrase, ‘If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,’ but Advanced Concrete Walls are the exception. They are too good to be true and yet they exist,” says Roland Faith, COO and CFO of The Faith Group. “Advanced Concrete Technology guarantees to be as disruptive to the construction industry as Uber has been to the transportation industry. In fact, buildings built by this system are hurricane resistant by being all concrete and mildew-resistant. They contain no sheet rocks and are not subject to roof leaks, since the roofs are made of pure, tilted concrete. They are also safe from termites, since no wood is used. Above all, ACT construction is done at a fraction of conventional time and cost.”
By combining several steps and inspections into a single step and inspection, ACT expedites the construction timeline dramatically, saving an average of 76 percent of the total construction time. In addition, it is more cost-effective and saves an average of 30 percent of construction costs per project. This is made possible by including all of the electrical and plumbing components within the concrete exterior and interior walls, which significantly reduces the number of steps and inspections required during construction.
In addition to leveraging the ACT technology on The Modern Towers development, The Faith Group is also using an innovative approach to marketing the new rental property. The company is partnering with Richr, a technology and referral platform that bypasses brokers and empowers homeowners to buy, rent and sell properties commission-free. Richr markets the apartments in exchange for retaining the rental insurance rights to the property.
The Faith Group plans to repeat the success it is having with The Modern Towers project—both with the ACT technology and the marketing approach—throughout South Florida and the United States. It hopes to expedite its partners’ ability to bring affordable housing and hotels to market at record speeds as well as for record prices. Additionally, the ACT system will provide a much-needed solution to the construction delays, high labor costs and budget overrides often associated with large multi-family construction projects. This production model also boasts an industrialized mass production system to help standardize the building process and increase productivity as well as the speed of completion, and it is easily adaptable to the varying demands of each project.
“By bringing this technology to the United States, our team of experts can convert empty lots into beautiful and affordable multi-family units at costs that have never been seen before,” Faith says. “The quality of our construction has easily exceeded the expectations of modern users and has allowed us to develop these homes seven to eight times faster than traditional construction methods.”
