Bjarke Ingels, Roni Bahar, and Nick Chim Launch First-of-its-Kind Home Design Company

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has joined forces with technology and real estate professionals Nick Chim and Roni Bahar to create Nabr, a new housing company that offers residents custom and sustainable apartments at scale with a path to ownership. The real estate tech startup has debuted its first development SoFA One in the heart of San Jose’s South of First Area (SoFA) cultural district in Silicon Valley, and will allow residents to customize their space using Nabr’s digital platform, and choose between different designs and financing packages.

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The start up comes as a response to the real estate industry’s lack of transparency and inefficiency. Ingels, Bahar, and Chim combined their expertise in each of their fields, and developed a new and improved way of urban living by focusing on attainability, sustainability, and individuality. Roni Bahar explains that following the United States’ current housing crisis, consumers are left with only two options: paying high rent for a tiny apartment in the city or going for houses in suburbs for a lower price and bigger scale, in addition to the fact that single-family homes are being built a lot more than apartments.

Since Nabr’s goal is to facilitate and simplify the process of buying net-zero emission apartments, the platform uses technology and productization to increase the production of apartments being built in major cities. The software digitizes the design process and communication with the supply chain, selling directly to the consumer with buildings that are Nabr-branded. 

Residents have the opportunity to buy or lease to secure their path to ownership with a financial option that fits them. For those who do not want to buy, Nabr has a LEAP program which offers residents the ability to lock in the purchase price of their home for an option period of up to five years. 

We founded Nabr to build a high-volume, integrated housing production system, developing the product in partnership with strategic supply chain partners from start to finish. We are starting in the Bay Area, where residents face an incredibly expensive real estate market that few can afford to buy. Our long-term vision is to deliver projects in less than half the time and at price points affordable to middle-income households nationally. — Nick Chim, Co-Founder and CTO at Nabr

Houses are co-designed by BIG, who is also an investor in Nabr. Each apartment is carbon neutral in operations, with an all-electric design and energy-efficient facade. SoFA One features access to natural light and abundant air circulation due to the high ceilings and panoramic windows. The structure is built with locally-sourced North American timber, and offers residents a space to grow and cultivate their own greenery both indoors and outdoors.

The project features 125 residences with a shared rooftop park, electric vehicle charging stations, bike and personal storage, community garden, access to wellness and fitness facilities, and ground level retail spaces. The project will break ground in summer 2022, with occupancy expected by summer 2023, but prospect clients can already join the waitlist.