3D printed homes to be built in East Tampa starting in October

3D printing in home construction

Just about anything can be 3D printed, and now the technology is moving to construction with a new neighborhood in East Tampa. Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Just about anything can be 3D printed, and now the technology is moving to construction with a new neighborhood in East Tampa.

What we know:

The Hillsborough County non-profit Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa broke ground on Thursday on a site for a new neighborhood of affordable houses that will include some constructed with 3D printing technology.

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"We’ve been practicing and practicing and getting it ready. We had to, of course, go through a lot of zoning and permitting to make sure that we can use the proper techniques for it, and we’re really excited to bring the very first in Tampa 3D printed homes," said Ernest Coney, the CEO of CDC of Tampa.

The CDC of Tampa will build 18 single family houses in Knoll Pine Way community, 14 of them using traditional methods and four with 3D printing methods.

Big picture view:

The CDC of Tampa helps to create opportunities for Hillsborough County residents, including a path to homeownership.

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"There was a stat like 20,000 people on a waiting list just for Tampa Housing Authority waiting for housing period, so having affordable housing is really a great asset here in our communities," said Coney.

Video from their workshop shows how contractors will build the 3D printed exterior walls and some interior walls, using concrete instead of plastic.

"One, it’s faster, and two, it’s energy efficient. So, you save on your energy costs, and three, when you think about sustainability when it floods, we’re in Florida, you don’t have to worry about rotting wood. You don’t have to worry about dry wall rotting. It’s just cement. You let it dry, and you go right back to it," said Coney.

Renderings show the houses will be 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

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"The speed of it is you can set it down and it kind of does its thing. The challenge is you have to kind of schedule the trades. So, you have to have the HVAC come in, the plumbing come in. So, if you can schedule those faster, it definitely is a lot faster. But you can print a home within a day or two days," said Coney.

What they're saying:

Rene Brown Panko cannot help but smile when she looks at the empty lot on Knoll Pine Way that will soon hold her future home, her first on her own.

"My home that’s going to be here would have cost me hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. But because of this program, oh my God, I’m about to cry, I can afford it," said Panko.

The 65-year-old East Tampa entrepreneur will be among the first to own one of the city’s first 3D printed houses. Her future home will be just 15 minutes away from her business, Ladies of the Sea restaurant on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

"I want to have plenty of cabinets. I want to have a nice counter. You know the double sink, of course," said Panko about her future home.

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With decades of innovating in the kitchen, Panko said she’s happy to blaze another trail with her home.

"It’s my path for my generational wealth, legacy for my family," said Panko. "I don’t want to cry, but first-time buyer, this is it."

What's next:

The Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa said not all the homes are locked in with homebuyers yet. The housing counseling agencies that CDC of Tampa partners with are helping to get potential homebuyers fully qualified to buy the homes. 

They will be sold below market rate to residents making 80% or less of the median income. You can find out more information at www.cdcoftampa.org. 

Hillsborough County contributed $2.4 million to the project.