Catching up on FullStack Modular: a move to Connecticut, an expansion to California (and a hotel), and some dubious claims

So, remember FullStack Modular, the company that succeeded took over the ill-fated factory business-- FC+S Modular, then FC Modular--set up to build modules for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, which, after problems in building the B2 (461 Dean) project, original project developer Forest City ultimately sold to its former executive Roger Krulak?

(Note: the company was originally called Full Stack Modular, but at some point became FullStack Modular.)

As I observed in June 2017, FullStack's announcement of a $6 million investment struck me as substantial but also not huge in terms of being used to "scale production" at the modular factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

Well, they've since found greener pastures, relocating in 2023 to just outside New Haven, Conn., and last year establishing another factory outside Los Angeles, as described below.

The projects they describe conform to Krulak's October 2016 prediction (in FastCo.Design) that they wouldn't aim as tall as the 32-story 461 Dean: “Our sweet spot for modular in an urban environment is in the 10-to-18-story, 80,000-to-120,000-square-foot buildings." After all, height--and different varieties of module shapes--added complexity. 

Projects proposed/completed

FullStack's list of projects is ambiguous, since it doesn't explain whether they've been built, and there are no hyperlinks to the projects. As far as I can tell, only one has been built by that company:

• a six-floor hotel, Treehouse, in Sunnyvale, Ca.; set to open this year 
• a (planned) seven-floor apartment building in the Bronx, 2359 Lorillard Place
• a (planned) 15-story rental building in Los Angeles, AHF MADISON
• a (planned) seven-floor 581 Grant Ave. in Brooklyn, winner of New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development RFP for affordable housing
• a (planned) six-story rental building, 15 E. 128th Street in Manhattan
• a ten-story rental building, Beach 20th, in Far Rockaway (but built by others)
• a M.I.U. (Mobile Isolation Unit) for medical purposes

Note that FullStack also takes credit for 461 Dean, though it was the work of a predecessor company.

What about 581 Grant?

The screenshot below, which I took last week, suggested that 581 Grant Ave. was "100% Occupied." However, that project hasn't been built. It faces City Planning Commission approval before it goes to the City Council. 

I queried FullStack on Jan. 15 and got a response from Krulak: "Error. It is in production. Will correct thank you." 

They did, partly, cutting the second line from the bottom in the above large screenshot, but not the final line, which also should've been cut. See smaller screenshot at right.

Yes, it might have been an error, since the "100% Occupied -- Operated by Greystar Real Estate Partners" text, as with the "4.5 CAP" rate (a metric when selling a building), seems to have been transposed from the page's mention of 461 Dean, which original developer Forest City sold in March 2018 to Principal Global Investors.

On the other hand, it's glaring that the claim has persisted for more than four years, according to the Internet Archive, with no one in-house or outside prompting a correction. 

Remember this quote from the Real Deal: "Embellishing the truth is second nature to many real estate developers."

A lawsuit on Beach 20th

FullStack's page doesn't say much about the Beach 20th Street project, which is, in fact, occupied and known as RadRoc. However, the 2020 state lawsuit Real Builders vs. Full Stack Modular explains that the modular company left the project early on.

Real Builders cited a Modular Design, Fabrication, Construction and Delivery Agreement, dated Dec. 20, 2019, terminated April 2, 2020 "for convenience" (without cause or penalty). It sued FullStack (FSM) to gain assignment of FSM’s subcontracts and more, but said FSM wouldn't do so until it was paid $3.2 million.

An affidavit of Dan Rad, owner of Real Builders, cites an Early Start Agreement, Nov. 4, 2019, under which FSM sought additional funding, "including amounts to which Real Builders did not believe FSM was entitled." Krulak responded that Real Builders had "routinely fail[ed]" to pay his firm. 

A state judge granted Real Builders a preliminary injunction ordering FSM to assign the subcontracts and to provide other plans. After more legal wrangling, on June 30, 2021, the parties agreed to end the case, presumably with some out-of-court settlement.

April 2023 move

In an April 24, 2023 press release, FULLSTACK MODULAR & GOVERNOR NED LAMONT ANNOUNCE COMPANY RELOCATION AND $8-12M INVESTMENT IN CONNECTICUT, FullStack announced a move to Hamden, Conn., just outside New Haven, with 100 jobs. The headquarters occupies 124,000 square feet.

The company said it had "employed more than 250 NYC-based workers"--not necessarily at the same time--who were offered opportunities to continue in Connecticut.

Krulak thanked local partners, "especially The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, who were supportive in trying to keep our operations in Brooklyn," but they got a better partnership in Connecticut. The apparent rationale was transport options:

The move to Connecticut and partnership with leading logistics expert and national transportation company, Gateway Terminal, creates a huge growth opportunity for the company as it not only moves into a more efficient factory with integrated logistics but also extends its geographic reach with the ability to ship modules via truck, rail, and deep-water.

CT NewsJunkie reported that no incentives were offered for the company to relocate.

Krulak told CTInsider that the key factor was logistics, given access to the West Coast, plus a "more positive, forward-looking business environment" compared to New York. Others interviewed by the publication cited lower operating costs, a trained workforce, and lower living costs for workers.

December 2024 expansion

In a Dec. 17, 2024, press release, FULLSTACK MODULAR OPENS WEST COAST FACTORY, USHERING IN A NEW ERA OF CONSTRUCTION IN CALIFORNIA, FullStack announced a new manufacturing facility in Carson, Ca., outside Los Angeles, with 140 new jobs.

The 130,000-square-foot facility offers a "strategic location near major highways and the Port of Long Beach," the company said, with its its first major West Coast project "set to begin production in February 2025."

"Handcrafted locally"

Screenshot: June 2020

As I wrote in June 2020, covering the settlement of the Forest City-Skanska lawsuits, the 461 Dean website then proclaimed sunnily that the tower was “handcrafted locally in the Brooklyn Navy Yard as the tallest modular building in the world.”

The phrasing “handcrafted locally" somehow suggests artisanal piecework, rather than using machines in a local factory.

While that phrasing persists, the claim has been adjusted, slightly, as "the tallest modular building in the US,” as seen below.  That's because 461 Dean. at 322 feet (or 359 feet, with bulkheads), has been overtaken.

The Guinness Book of World Records calls the tallest building built with pre-fabricated modules 101 George Street, a 442-foot, 10-inch) apartment tower located in Croydon, UK, completed in 2019.

Screenshot: January 2025

Guinness notes that the 682-foot Mini Sky City in Changsha, China is by some considered the champ, but only parts were modular. as interior walls and finishes were completed in standard fashion.

Note that the Enclave tower in London. at 535 feet, is taller than 101 George Street and claimed to now be the tallest modular tower in Europe. I'm not sure whether it hasn't made the Guinness cut or whether the latter's database needs an update. 

Similarly, a 459-foot tower in Singapore, Clement Canopy, has also been said to be the tallest modular building in the world.