Serial Entrepreneurs Team Up, Launch The Industrial Hotel LLC
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Serial Entrepreneurs Team Up, Launch The Industrial Hotel LLC
And while Barna runs multiple Minnesota and started work in
Recent reports peg the Tiny Homes the past year. This perfect storm prices businesses, including several in construction while in High School and
market at a compound annual growth many new home buyers out of the technology, his interest in real estate continued while completing an
rate (CAGR) of over 4% through 2025. market. In contrast, depending on the and renovation remains a key part of his undergraduate degree at St. Cloud State
There are a number of factors behind materials used, location, and other professional life. His real estate and University. Wyatt has owned and
growing interest in tiny homes. Rapid factors, the cost of a tiny house can be a home renovation activities are operated businesses in and around
growth in housing prices and rents in fraction of the cost of a normal subsumed under KDevelopers, LLC, a Colorado Springs for a number of years.
many metropolitan areas have propelled construction build. company he founded. Since moving to As his fiancée is from Fremont County,
unprecedented homeless rates. Most Fremont County in 2015, Barna has been he decided to relocate from Minnesota
recently, the sudden economic actively involved in various real estate to Florence in early 2019. “People joke
downturn in certain sectors—an and construction undertakings—one with me about wearing shorts when
outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic— being the full renovation of five 1950s to everyone else is wearing coats,” he
pushed some individuals and families 1970s vintage mobile homes (The relates. “for me, it is a walk in the park.”
into bankruptcy and loss of housing. Rosedale Vintage Mobile Home Park),
which he restored using recycled I figured it out, and it turned
materials and lists on Airbnb as a out that I was actually really
Tiny homes are seen as a partial solution Superhost and VRBO Premier Partner. good at it.”
for the problem. There simply isn’t When the housing market recently
sufficient housing inventory on the changed, Barna switched them over to
Wyatt and Barna first met in 2014 at the
market today, with prices up as much as long-term rentals.
Cañon City Hot Air Balloon Festival
50% in certain markets over the past
where the two of them had separate
four years. The cost of new construction
booths selling merchandise. “I
continues to spiral upwards, with Wyatt Reed grew up in northern remember walking around the booth
lumber prices up more than 500% over
area to check out other vendors and saw
Barna’s booth for Salvage Antique
Fremont County Vintage Etc.,” Wyatt recalls. “He had all
Entrepreneurs Meet and Form of this funky merchandise, including a
hubcap clock.” The two of them struck
Business Partnership up a conversation and a friendship
formed that eventually led to a business
Fremont County entrepreneurs, completing his degree, he decided to partnership. “Our first joint effort was a
Barna Kasa and Wyatt Reed, both buy a house and completely remodel it. pop-up retail store in Colorado Springs
developed an early interest in home “I had no money, no skills, no tools, in 2015,” Wyatt says. “It was a big
construction and renovation early nothing,” he jokes. “But I figured it out, success, and we’ve worked on various
in their lives. Barna launched a and it turned out that I was actually joint business initiatives since.”
career in technology when really good at it.”
attending Ohio State University as a
computer science major. Yet, while
Idea for Tiny Container House Building with Virtually 100%
Takes Form Refurbished Materials
The concept of tiny houses and their materials and household items. Barna In addition to the smaller lot where “Recycling materials lowers our cost and
ability to address the housing shortage had purchased an empty lot in Florence Wyatt placed his shipping container, gives us a unique differentiator that is
and affordability dates back a number of years ago and told Wyatt to drop the Barna also had acquired a larger one— environmentally friendly,” Barna
years for Wyatt and Barna. Wyatt’s shipping container he was using there. also in Florence. The two of them also explains. “We’re even harvesting
brother introduced him to shipping With the container on the property and had extensive renovation experience in material for the trim,” Wyatt adds.
container housing several years ago. For Wyatt now living in Fremont County, the construction areas that would aid them “Barna will give me a stack of old
Barna, his interest in tiny homes was two of them concluded that the time in designing and building out a tiny barnwood, and I’ll turn them into trim
spurred by his work restoring vintage had come for them to bring their ideas house prototype. Barna’s salvage for the windows. About the only thing in
mobile homes. “I was so intrigued with regarding tiny houses to fruition. “When business in Florence—Salvage Antique them that wasn’t refurbished are the
them that I attended several seminars we build on top of containers, we get Vintage Etc.—could provide them with toilets.” With construction materials
on them,” Wyatt relates. “But the storage underneath and a super- most of the material needed to adding tens of thousands of dollars to
efficient living quarters above it,” Wyatt construct the tiny house prototype. In many new homes and making it cost-
says. particular, Barna made a decision in prohibitive to remodel existing homes,
“When we build on top of
2020 to acquire special plastics recycling the approach of Wyatt and Barna is
containers, we get storage
equipment to create unique items like advantageous; outside of higher
underneath and a super- light switch cover plates and shipping container costs, they are not
At about the same time, Wyatt
efficient living quarters commercial-grade tile. impacted by construction material
submitted his idea of a tiny container
above it.” inflation.
house into a “Shark Tank” like
competition sponsored by the Fremont
approach they were taking lacked Economic Development Corporation Proving Out the Idea in a Four
viability in my opinion, as they were still and vetted by several Colorado-based
too expensive and did not include venture fund leaders. A total of 13 new Unit Prototype
individual bathrooms—namely, business ideas were pitched during the
residents in the tiny housing B2B Fall Roundup Bull Session—one of After working with the city planner and building all four containers. They plan to
development would need to share a which was Wyatt’s Fire Age Design Tiny a local planning consultant in early 2020, add one more to the lot within the next
common rest room. The existing tiny Home concept. “I had two minutes and Wyatt and Barna concluded that they year. It took about nine months to build
house designs lacked storage as well.” no props to present my idea,” he should zone the two locations as hotel the infrastructure—septic tank and
remembers. He won third prize and properties and branded them with the utilities. Occupancy permits were
$2,500 for his time.” name The Industrial. They purchased secured for the first two units in March,
When Wyatt moved to Fremont County, the remaining three containers planned and the other two were permitted in
he needed a place to store his work for the smaller lot on South Union and June. Wyatt is currently using unit 4
commenced work on designing and while it is under construction, and unit 1
is listed on Airbnb and associated notes that they have plans to create a Getting their four tiny houses on the about subcontracting their services,”
Airbnb Experiences. Units 2 and 3 are completely off-grid capable shipping first property and listing them on Wyatt adds.
currently under construction, which container home, that can ship all- Airbnb was just the start for Wyatt and
Wyatt and Barna hope to have listed on inclusive (using the container with all Barna. “We can start building tiny
Airbnb later this summer. additional parts included to hookup) houses on the second, much larger
through his own company, Fire Age property in Florence and renting them
Design, LLC. “These homes will have out,” Barna notes. “We anticipate that
their own solar panel supply, waste and we can get 20 to 30 units placed on it.”
In addition to all of their planning work
supply water tanks, basically everything Wyatt and Barna also plan to begin
with the city and build out of the units,
from footers to finish nails, all in the box. building out tiny houses for shipment to
Wyatt and Barna launched a podcast
Our final goal is to create a fully modular other locations. For scale of operations,
show in late 2020 dubbed “It’s Not a Tiny
design that requires as little they expect to subcontract welding and
House.” The difference shows a focus on
infrastructure work as possible,” Wyatt other construction work to local
Wyatt’s and Barna’s journey to create
says. professionals in Florence and Fremont
their own affordable tiny house project
County. Plus, as the container houses
in Florence and blueprint elements
“When we build on top of can be preconfigured on site, they can
others across the country can follow
be loaded onto trucks and delivered
who want to follow suit. containers, we get storage
virtually anywhere in the country.
underneath and a super-
“We’ve already had discussions with a
efficient living quarters Florence-based trucking company
While the tiny homes in The Industrial above it.”
currently are on grid tied power, Wyatt
Wyatt moves back to Fremont County and
begins working on mobile home park unit Units 2 and 3 shipping containers
Set 4 shipping containers in place
purchased Listed unit 1 on Airbnb and
Barna and Wyatt open pop-up store 5 and restoring Victorian in Florence. Unit and ran infrastructure, water, septic,
associated Airbnb
in Colorado Springs together 4 shipping container purchased. and power (as property lacked all)
Experiences
February 2016 February 2020 Last Half of 2020 March 2021
May 2019 Spring 2020 November 2020 June 2021
November 2015
Set 4 shipping containers in place
Planning consultant and city planner and ran infrastructure, water, septic,
First shipping container Acquired certificates for
conclude hotel does not require a and power (as property lacked all)
purchased and placed on S. occupancy for units 1 and 4
zoning change
Union lot in Florence
Adding Up the Efficiencies of Even with the spike in container prices
in the past year, Wyatt and Barna
Scale and Cost believe they can deliver a 40-foot tiny
house at a cost of $48,000. “If we add an
upstairs to the unit, the price increases
In contrast to a normal house that can create a one-weekend training course
to $56,000—but so does the square
take months and months to build, where we give them hands-on training.”
footage of the space,” Barna observes.
Wyatt and Barna expect to shrink this to He also has put together training videos
“This is dramatically less than other tiny
less than 30 days for their tiny houses. that will be hosted as part of the Off-
homes on the market, where you’re
“Customers will have the option of a Grid Academy. And while they are
often looking at $100,000 once
white glove approach—from design to currently giving free tours of the tiny
everything is added.” Wyatt and Barna
actual delivery and set up,” Barna says. houses, Wyatt and Barna plan to begin
are also playing with the concept of
“We will even do the plumbing and charging for them in the near future.
trying a design for a 20-foot container.
electrical hookups when it is delivered “Living in a tiny house is not for
“Shrinking the cost even further creates
on location. As nearly all of the house is everyone,” Barna notes. “What we really
an even more compelling affordability
completely configured in Florence, very want is for buyers to spend at least two
case—which we believe could be used
little needs to be done once it arrives on days living in one before they make a
to house people experiencing
location.” purchase. This will give them a feel for
homelessness.”
what it is like.”
“We’re also planning to give them the Building, Selling, and Shipping
choice to build it themselves—either in Being made of steel, the tiny container
Florence or upon delivery to the location houses are very quiet—blocking off Tiny House Across the Country
where they want it placed,” Wyatt outside noise. The Corten Steel from
observes. “For those wanting to do the which they are made has a way of Now that they have their initial “We want to be building,
construction themselves, we plan to scabbing itself. “They are also highly prototype designs behind them, Wyatt selling, and shipping our
energy efficient,” Wyatt says. “We spray and Barna are very excited about the
container houses all over
foam insulation to create vapor barrier. future of The Industrial, LLC. Wyatt sums
the country in a couple
Our HVAC technician who added the up, “We want to be building, selling, and
heating and cooling units to our four shipping our tiny houses all over the
years—and The Industrial
tiny houses told us that he has never country in a couple years—and The lays the groundwork to do
seen anything capable of producing Industrial lays the groundwork to do so. so. We believe in the value
their level of efficiency.” We believe in the value our tiny our tiny container house
container house design brings to the design brings to the table,
table, and that they address a very real and that they address a very
problem.” real problem.”
About Fremont Economic Development Corporation (FEDC): Fremont Economic Development Corporation is a professional economic development organization focused directly on business attraction, retention and expansion in Fremont County, Colorado. With an established and growing network of business, academic and governmental partners, we directly assist companies with competitive locations or expansion projects by connecting them with the right people, the appropriate resources and the most meaningful and relevant information. FEDC directly manages or assists in supporting multiple sector partnerships across the Upper Arkansas region of Colorado, serving Fremont, Custer, Chaffee, and Lake Counties. www.fremontedc.com
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