ICON Announces Construction is Underway for More 3D-printed Homes to Serve the Chronically Homeless in Texas
Mobile Loaves & Fishes Receives Gift from Lennar Foundation to Bring the Resilient, Dignified Homes to Community First! Village
AUSTIN, TX, December 19, 2024 – Today ICON, the leader of advanced construction technologies pioneering large-scale 3D printing, announced that construction is underway on 100, 3D-printed homes at Community First! Village with Mobile Loaves & Fishes, the Austin nonprofit that has been faithfully serving the area’s homeless community for more than 26 years. This extends the work that ICON has completed over the past four years at Community First! Village to serve the underhoused community including 17 homes and facilities. The ICON homes are built in partnership with Lennar Foundation, the charitable arm of Lennar, one of the nation’s leading homebuilders, and are part of the expansion of Community First! Village, which is currently underway.
“Community First! Village is at the center of innovation in our country in terms of communities and movements that are effectively addressing homelessness. With the help from our friends at Lennar Foundation, we can continue our mission to deliver dignified homes for those in need and continue the long-term relationship with Mobile Loaves & Fishes,” said Brooke Bauguess, VP of Marketing & Communications at ICON.
Lennar has a long history in Central Texas of developing thriving communities, including the 100-home 3D printed community of homes at Wolf Ranch in Georgetown in collaboration with ICON. This gift is an extension of this longstanding commitment to improving lives in the regions Lennar helps shape.
The only neighborhood of its kind in the nation, Community First! Village provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve Austin’s neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
The expansion of Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ northeast Austin development adds an additional 127 acres to Community First! Village and nearly 1,400 new homes across two new phases of the Village. Once the expansion of the Village is completed and at full capacity, it will be home to an estimated 1,800 formerly homeless individuals. The portion of 100 homes 3D printed by ICON across Village’s expansion will be a mix of townhome units and family homes spanning 380 sq. ft. to 1,040 sq. ft.
“We are delighted to continue our relationship with ICON and utilize their groundbreaking technology in Community First! Village as we continue building homes and bringing dignity to our neighbors who need it most,” said Alan Graham, founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, the developer of Community First! Village. “With support from the good folks at Lennar Foundation, we are able to continue demonstrating why Community First! Village is a recognized leader in terms of communities and movements that are having a profound impact on the pandemic of homelessness in our country.“
Learn more about ICON at iconbuild.com and Community First! Village at www.mlf.org.
About ICON
ICON is a construction technology company developing robotic and AI systems to lower the cost and increase the speed and quality of construction to tackle the global housing crisis and prepare to build on other worlds. As a pioneer of large-scale 3D printing, ICON continually sets new standards for delivering resilient, dignified housing and recently unveiled a radical new robotic printer that enables multi-story construction, a new low-carbon building material, a digital catalog for residential architecture, and an AI architect for home design and construction. Using proprietary 3D printing robotics, software and advanced materials, ICON is shifting the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. For more information visit www.iconbuild.com or follow on X™, Instagram®, Facebook®, YouTube®, or Threads® (@ICON3DTech).
About Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Founded in 1998, Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a Christian social outreach ministry that empowers communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. The organization’s innovative Community First! Village is the country’s largest master planned development designed specifically for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness, and has become a national model replicated by other organizations in different cities. With the support of tens of thousands of volunteers and more than 6.5 million meals served through its Truck Ministry, MLF has also grown to become the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Central Texas and has spawned similar food truck programs across the country. For more information, please visit www.mlf.org.
About Lennar Corporation
Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com.
