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A large crane on Monday dropped into place the first round of modular units that will assemble the new Timber Ridge Village in Vail.

Timber Ridge Village will contain 302 residential options, ranging from studios to four-bedroom living spaces. All homes are deed-restricted for local workers who can purchase the units after verifying that they work a minimum of 30 hours per week at a business operating within Eagle County boundaries. Units range in price from $408,102 to $1,054,339, and 225 of the units are under contract already.

Timber Ridge is being built on town-owned land in Vail, which the town acquired for $20 million in 2003; the town contributed about $40 million to the construction and will purchase $26 million worth of units.

Mike Foster, a partner with Triumph Development West, the designer of the project, visited Vail on Monday to see the modulars craned in.

“On a project like this, the first day that you set the first mods is always exciting,” Foster said.

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Timber Ridge Village will require 454 modular units in total, spread across seven buildings. The modulars are assembled in Minnesota and shipped on trucks to Eagle County, where they’re stored at a holding facility in Wolcott before they’re brought into Vail.

Foster said the short work season in the mountains, along with the desire to make the project affordable, necessitated the use of the modular units, which arrive at the site complete with appliances in place.

“We started making these mods back in October of last year,” Foster said. “There’s a huge production line, and they’re rolling about two of these mods off the production line each day.”

Mayor Travis Coggin also attended Monday’s event. He said that after the town of Vail used modulars to build the Chamonix Vail neighborhood in 2017-18, the modular option was the obvious choice for Timber Ridge Village, as well.

“It’s a great way to build in these communities, because you can be working on building those boxes off-site, while you’re doing your site work,” Coggin said. “So you can be building throughout the year.”

Foster said the long winters in Vail aren’t the only consideration when choosing modulars.

“In mountain resort communities, the construction season is shorter, but also the labor pool is smaller,” Foster said. “To try to find this workforce in Vail, and do it economically, is tough.”

Coggin said the Chamonix Vail neighborhood has been a major success for the town. The redevelopment of the Timber Ridge parcel — which previously held 96 units — represents major progress on the town’s goal to create 1,000 employee housing units in a decade.

“The quality is extremely good,” Coggin said. “Everybody at Chamonix is super excited about them. The industry has come a long way since it first started out, they’re way more flexible in their design, so it’s a great option.”

The town also broke ground on June 18 on another massive workforce housing project just up the North Frontage Road from Timber Ridge between Red Sandstone Elementary School and the Middle Creek apartments. That development will deliver 268 new rental homes for locals in what is now the largest town-owned capital project in Vail’s history, at a total estimated cost of $189 million. Timber Ridge previously held the record at $165 million.

Foster said with Triumph Development mostly focused on creating affordable housing opportunities, the company has been closely watching the progression of modular technology.

“The industry is evolving almost daily,” Foster said. “There’s new factories coming online, new technologies, there’s now factories where a lot of the production is done with robots.”

The first of Timber Ridge Village’s seven buildings saw eight modulars craned into place on Monday.

“Right now, this building is scheduled to be occupied by mid-December, but a lot of people look at it right now and say there’s no way possible,” Foster said. “But in a couple of weeks, when this building is completely stacked up, people will see that it really is possible.”