American Housing Corporation
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Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate development, Modular construction |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Founders | Bobby Fijan, Riley Meik, Harris Rothaermel, William Davis |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Products | Modular row houses |
The American Housing Corporation (AHC) is an American startup that manufactures prefabricated row house components at a factory in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2024, the company has built one prototype unit as of April 2026 and has not yet delivered finished homes to buyers.[1][2]
The company was founded in 2024 by Bobby Fijan, Riley Meik, Harris Rothaermel, and William Davis. Meik, the CEO, is an engineer who previously worked near SpaceX's former Los Angeles-area headquarters, according to Fast Company.[1] In October 2024, AHC raised US$200,000 in a pre-seed round from Antler, an early-stage venture capital firm.[3]
The company opened a manufacturing facility in Austin in 2025 and completed a single prototype row house there.[2] The Free Press described the factory as employing approximately five engineers building panels and pre-assembled rooms.[4] As of April 2026, Offsite Builder Magazine reported the company claimed to have projects planned in Texas, New Mexico, California, Washington, and Montana, though none had been completed.[2]
Product
AHC says it manufactures row house components using a "kit of parts" system, packs them into intermodal containers, and assembles them on site.[1] The company describes its model as combining land acquisition, design, manufacturing, and sales within one organization.[5] These claims have not been independently verified at scale, as the company had produced only one prototype unit as of early 2026.
Meik told Fast Company that initial row houses in Austin would sell for approximately US$750,000, with prices varying by market.[1]
Criticism and challenges
Affordability
The company markets its product as a "starter home," but its stated price of $750,000 for initial Austin units has drawn skepticism. Offsite Builder Magazine noted that while such pricing might fit certain high-cost markets, the label of "starter home" is difficult to sustain at that price point in most of the United States.[2] The median sale price of an existing home in the U.S. was approximately $398,400 in March 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors.[6] AHC's stated price is roughly double the national median.
Modular housing track record
AHC operates in a sector with a record of high-profile failures. Katerra, the most prominent modular construction startup of the 2010s, raised over US$2 billion from SoftBank before filing for bankruptcy in June 2021. Reporting in Architect attributed Katerra's collapse to a lack of focus, hiring talent from outside the construction industry without sufficient domain knowledge, and an inability to generate cost efficiencies through vertical integration.[7] AHC's model shares several characteristics with Katerra's approach, including vertical integration and founders drawn from outside the building industry.
CBC News reported in October 2025 that multiple modular housing startups in the United States and the United Kingdom had filed for bankruptcy in recent years, and quoted Carlo Carbone, a professor of environmental design at the Université du Québec à Montréal, warning that modular housing fails when it produces "cookie-cutter designs that just are similar and boxy and that nobody wants to really live in."[8]
Scaling and permitting
Offsite Builder Magazine identified scaling as a central risk, noting that modular housing businesses depend on production volume to achieve cost targets, and that AHC's factory operation remained small.[2] The publication also noted that infill row house projects face opposition in local permitting processes, which can delay or block construction in the established urban neighborhoods AHC targets.[2]