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Lower cost
Reduces square footage, standardizes assemblies, and simplifies systems — fewer MEP risers, offsets, and one-off structural elements. Documented savings of 8–12%+.
Multifamily design & construction optimization
Every building is a prototype.
We make it a product.
OptiMod is a data-driven service that streamlines multifamily buildings before they get expensive to change — finding cost savings, added unit yield, and reduced risk, while opening the door to offsite construction.
Proven effective across 90%+ of new-construction configurations of three stories or more.
The problem
Construction is the only major industry that got less productive.
Since 1950, manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics have multiplied output per worker. Construction productivity is roughly 40% lower than it was then. The reason is structural: other industries design once and produce many. In construction, every building is treated as a one-off prototype — and the industry never gets down the complexity curve.
Every part of every building is different — by accident, not by need.
A typical multifamily building program only calls for three to five functional unit configurations. Yet the drawings routinely carry 30+ unique unit types, dozens of one-off bathroom layouts, and core elements that never line up. Each unique condition is a fresh chance for cost, error, delay, and claims.
- More unique parts → higher cost and higher risk
- Misaligned cores and grids → wasted structure and MEP
- Bespoke everything → offsite manufacturing stays out of reach
The approach
Design-first discipline, applied to multifamily.
The best time to optimize is early — at the end of feasibility, before Concept Design locks in. OptiMod takes targeted measurements of a project, derives a master planning grid tailored to it, and re-maps the plans into that grid. The result keeps the architect's vision while stripping out the accidental complexity underneath it.
01
Measure & standardize
A four-step mathematical analysis measures bar depths, bay widths, core placement, and unit dimensions to surface the project's underlying patterns.
02
Coordinate the grid
We derive a project-specific 3D planning grid that aligns structure, cores, and MEP — the organizing logic the design was missing.
03
Re-map the program
Units and cores are re-mapped into the grid, collapsing dozens of one-off types into a disciplined, repeatable set that meets or exceeds the original program.
Unit types, rationalized
A grid the whole building shares
What OptiMod delivers
Five outcomes, from one disciplined pass.
▲
More yield
Recovers 6–12% additional units within the same building volume, and frees space for high-value amenities and revenue uses like retail or coworking.
⏱
Less time
Streamlining speeds up every step: design, approvals, change management, construction, and inspections.
◆
Reduced risk
Improves outcomes across the full spectrum — entitlement, financing, market, construction, and operational risk — with better cost and schedule certainty.
⬡
Supply-chain optionality
A rationalized grid unlocks the full range of delivery methods — from stick-built to panelized, pod, core, and volumetric modular.
↻
Better operations
Standardized parts are easier and cheaper to maintain, renovate, and adapt over the life of the asset.
Proof
Real projects. Measured results.
OptiMod's process consistently finds savings in three ways — improving layout efficiency, increasing standardization, and simplifying systems. A few examples from real engagements:
$10M~9%
Improved efficiency let a project meet the same program with one fewer floor.
280→308+9%
Additional units found within the same footprint through layout efficiency alone.
18→4types
Unique one-bedroom types streamlined to four that met or exceeded the original spec.
12.3%per unit
Per-unit cost reduction by restacking parking and removing a residential floor.
$3.3M~8%
Cost savings on a stalled project, recovered through a two-round project rescue.
+56%yield
Standardizing structure and MEP opened a shift to light-gauge steel — a potential jump from 280 to 500 units.
Results are project-specific. Savings are more consistent on complex urban projects than on suburban greenfield sites — generally, the more complex the building, the greater the opportunity.
A catalyst for offsite
One grid. Every delivery method on the table.
The persistent challenge in offsite is aligning highly variable, project-specific designs with the standardization that manufacturing needs. OptiMod bridges that gap — the same planning grid that lowers cost on a stick-built job is what makes panelized, pod, and modular delivery viable.
Stick-built
Component-level savings and efficiency, no process change required.
Panelized
Aligned bays and repeated assemblies ready for panel fabrication.
Pod & panel
Standardized wet cores and bathrooms suited to pod production.
Volumetric & Core*
A repeatable grid that supports full volumetric and patent-protected Core delivery.
* Core delivery method is patent-protected. See validation.
Who it's for
Built for the teams who feel the complexity first.
Multifamily developers & owners
You carry the cost of every inefficiency and capture the full upside of every recovered unit. OptiMod is most impactful on projects of 100+ units and on complex or irregular geometries, where a single engagement can return many multiples of its fee in savings and yield.
- Higher NOI and property value from added yield
- Cost and schedule certainty before you commit capital
- Optionality on delivery method and supply chain
General contractors & design-builders
You see more projects than anyone — and you inherit the risk of every one-off detail. OptiMod strengthens your preconstruction offering, sharpens your bid, and de-risks delivery, with an engagement model designed to fit the realities of the design phase.
- A differentiated, data-backed precon pitch
- Fewer errors, RFIs, and claims in the field
- A credible path to offsite and self-perform scopes
We work with owners, general contractors, and design teams across the country. The best time to engage is early — at the end of feasibility, before Concept Design. The second-best time is now.
Engagement
Priced to the value it creates.
Pricing is project-friendly and scaled to complexity — because that's where the savings live. Most engagements begin with a low-risk scan and, when the numbers justify it, move into a full two-round optimization. When savings run to the millions, the fee is a small fraction of the value returned.
Start here
Feasibility Scan
A fast, fixed-fee read on the opportunity. We count the unit types, measure the grid, and tell you honestly whether — and roughly how much — there is to gain.
- Independent mathematical analysis
- Unit-type & efficiency diagnostic
- Go / no-go recommendation, credited toward a full engagement
Fixed fee · ~1 week
Most common
Full Optimization
The complete two-round engagement for developers and owners. We derive the planning grid, re-map the program, and deliver an optimized scheme with the team's feedback built in.
- Round 1: independent optimization
- Round 2: incorporates full project-team feedback
- Optimized grid, plans, and a documented savings / yield case
Fixed fee, scaled to complexity · ~2–6 weeks
For builders
Precon Partner
A model built for general contractors and design-builders. A reduced fixed fee during the design phase, with a success component tied to winning the work.
- Lower base fee for design-phase work
- Incentive payment on award
- Optimized package to strengthen your bid
Reduced fee + win incentive
Every project is different, so a one-size-fits-all price would be, too. Share a project and we'll scope a proposal to it. OptiMod is a service today, built on a methodology we're steadily turning into software.
Validation
A method, protected.
The thinking behind OptiMod is not new marketing language — it's a body of work with granted and pending patents behind it.
2017
Patent granted
U.S. Patent 9,695,608 — sole inventor. The foundational modular building method.
2026
Patent granted
Granted with Hickok Cole, sole named inventor — extending the grid-based method.
Pending
Patent pending
Filed with CoreMod as primary inventor — covering the Core delivery approach.
White Paper
The OptiMod Method, in full.
Our white paper lays out the complete method — the measurements, the planning-grid analysis, the re-mapping, and real project results. Because it documents proprietary techniques, we share it directly on request rather than publishing it.
- Why construction stays stuck at peak complexity
- The three-step optimization method, in detail
- Real results: yield, cost, and project-rescue cases
- How one planning grid unlocks offsite delivery
Request received
Thanks — Chris will personally send the white paper to your inbox shortly.
About
OptiMod is a service by CoreMod.
CoreMod exists to bring manufacturing's design-first discipline to multifamily housing — closing the productivity gap that has held the industry back for decades. OptiMod is how that work reaches a project today: a bespoke, data-driven optimization delivered before a design is locked in.
The methodology is led by Chris D. French, a longtime innovator in market-focused offsite construction and the inventor behind CoreMod's granted and pending patents. Chris and the CoreMod team work with owners, general contractors, and design teams across the country, alongside collaborators including architecture firm Hickok Cole.
The one-line version
"Typical projects routinely carry 30 or more unique unit types, even when the program needs only three to five. More unit types means higher cost and higher risk. We count the units — and then we fix it."
90%+of 3-story-plus configurations benefit
100+units is the sweet spot
2rounds to a finished, team-reviewed scheme
Get started
Tell us about your project.
Send a few details and we'll come back with an honest read on the opportunity and a proposal scoped to your project. Early-stage projects welcome — the sooner we look, the more there is to find.
- Emailchris@coremod.co
- Emailpatrick@coremod.co
- Phone(202) 577-7511
Thanks — request received
We'll be in touch shortly to set up your discovery call. In the meantime, feel free to email chris@coremod.co.