Pasadena is evaluating two fast-track approaches to reduce homelessness: a one-year master lease of an existing motel for extended transitional stays and factory-made 3D-printed units produced from recycled polymer. Azure Printed Homes will present project examples—six tiny homes in six weeks and a roughly 62-unit project completed in about 10 weeks—that illustrate compressed construction timelines and small site footprints. Commissioners estimate a 50-bed master-leased motel would cost $3.5–$4 million per year and say both models could operate together to get people indoors faster while they access services.
Pasadena Considers Motel Master Lease and 3D-Printed Transitional Housing to Speed Relief for People Experiencing Homelessness
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Pasadena leaders are weighing two fast-track housing options to move people out of homelessness more quickly: a one-year master lease of an existing motel for extended transitional stays and factory-produced 3D-printed units made from recycled polymer.
What’s being considered: The Pasadena Human Services Commission will hear a presentation from Gene Eidelman, co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, about the company’s factory-built polymer housing system, which the company manufactures at a Gardena facility. Eidelman’s materials highlight rapid-build projects that the company says demonstrate the approach’s speed and small site footprint.
Examples Highlighted
Camarillo: Azure says it produced six tiny homes in six weeks to occupy a 6,000-square-foot lot.
San Luis Obispo (Southern California project): Presentation materials cite a roughly 62-unit project completed in about 10 weeks on a three-quarter-acre site, intended to provide interim housing, permanent units and supportive services for approximately 54 people experiencing homelessness.
Motel Master-Lease Proposal
Before the 3D-printed proposal, commissioners unanimously voted on August 12 to forward a report recommending a one-year master lease in which the city would lease all rooms at an existing motel to provide extended transitional stays. The report clarifies that master leasing is intended to complement emergency shelters, not replace them.
Commissioners estimated annual operating costs of about $3.5 million to $4 million for a 50-bed master-leased site. They also noted that one-time startup costs for a leased motel could be more than $2 million lower than those for opening a new emergency shelter.
Why Pasadena Is Exploring Both Approaches
Pasadena’s report lays out the scale of the city’s housing shortage: a 2025 point-in-time homelessness rate of 423 per 100,000 residents, alongside 38 federally subsidized properties with 2,289 rent-restricted units, while 7,541 households live below the poverty line. Traditional affordable housing can take years to finance, permit and build; both the motel master-lease plan and factory-built 3D units are presented as ways to get people indoors faster.
Supporters argue that faster transitional housing provides more stability for individuals and families while they connect with case management, health services and longer-term housing solutions. Commissioners described the goal as reducing homelessness to what they called “functional zero.”
Broader Context
Pasadena’s discussion follows a national and international trend toward faster build methods. Examples include legislative proposals in Oklahoma to subsidize 3D-printed homes, a Havelar project in Portugal that printed a house in under 20 hours, and U.S. projects that have moved from pilots to legally habitable homes.
Next steps: The Human Services Commission will hear Azure Printed Homes’ presentation and consider how 3D-printed units might complement the already-recommended motel master lease and other shelter strategies.
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