Steve West, chief executive of Homeworks, a modular builder in Ronkonkoma on Long Island, maintains an Internet site -- www.modularcenter.com -- designed to connect consumers with modular builders in their area.
Forest City also worked with a modular builder in New Jersey, Kullman Offsite Construction, although they had a bitter breakup over terms and Mr. Ratner's decision to hire a group of Kullman's senior executives.
Prospective homeowners who are looking for modular builders in their area can easily locate them on the Internet.
"We can recycle everything, all of the packaging materials, the gypsum, every piece of steel," said Tom O'Hara, the director of business development at the Capsys Corporation, a modular builder based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, "because none of our products get wet or are affected by the elements".
Find a local Modular Builder that will be responsible for the major construction steps in the modular assembly process.
In New York City, the School Construction Authority has used the technology to build classrooms, and the Capsys Corporation, a modular builder based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, has built prefabricated steel-frame housing up to seven stories tall in Brooklyn and on Long Island.
Capsys, a modular builder at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, has built steel-frame, prefabricated housing up to seven stories tall in Clinton Hill and East New York, Brooklyn, and on Long Island.
Once a customer has found a modular builder and has settled on a design, Mr. Shuey said, the design is executed by one of the scores of modular manufacturers scattered across the country.
New World Home doesn't build its own homes, but gives its specifications to modular builders like Future Home Technology in New York and Haven Custom Homes of Maryland.
"We have a network of more than 300 modular builders across the country," Mr. West said.
Some modular builders say the cost of a high-rise bracing system would be prohibitive.
