by Ian Johanson
for The Beacon

The City of Sheboygan continues to work with a company with plans for mass production of factory-built homes on the sale of 40 acres of vacant land in the South Pointe Enterprise Campus on the city’s south side as a purchase offer for the land expired Nov. 30 without the deal closing.

The company, S2A Modular, announced plans in July for a modular home “MegaFactory” in Sheboygan capable of producing 1,000 homes annually. The company had not produced any homes in the United States at the time of the announcement. The company’s first factory is under construction in Patterson, CA, with plans for production to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the company’s webpage.

“The City of Sheboygan continues to work with S2A Modular on additional details related to the project,” city Director of Planning and Development Chad Pelishek said in a email. “At this point, the offer to purchase has expired and should the City and S2A work through the due diligence details, a new offer to purchase and development agreement would need to be negotiated and executed.  S2A Modular is still committed to Sheboygan and SouthPointe Enterprise Campus, however both parties are continuing to analyze the project and finalize a development plan that works for both of us.”

The company paid the city $20,000 in earnest money on the now-expired $825,000 purchase offer. 

The city is still in receipt of the money, Pelishek said, and would consider applying it to a future purchase by S2A Modular, based on approval by the Common Council. 

The Common Council discussed a “possible development incentive” in closed session at the Sept. 7 meeting, and met again in closed session at the Oct. 18 meeting to consider a development agreement with S2A Modular.