Project Spotlight: Sierra Crossing Brings Modular Supportive Housing to Fresno

4 hours ago
3 min read

Aerial view of a suburban neighborhood with a modern school campus, green sports field, and empty roads under a sunny sky.

Project Overview

Name: Sierra Crossing

Location: Fresno, CA

Client: Valley Teen Ranch

MBH Role: Factory Executive Architect

Size: 52,944 SF

Units: 96 units

Construction Type: 2-Story Modular Walk-Up

Affordability: 100% affordable / permanent supportive housing

Population Served: Transitional age youth, families exiting homelessness, foster care alumni

Community Amenities: Covered outdoor gathering area, community laundry, onsite support offices, garden, playground, open field

Recognition: 2026 World of Modular Awards — Honorable Mention, Permanent Modular Construction: Social & Supportive Housing

In Fresno, where the need for stable housing among young people aging out of foster care and exiting homelessness is acute, Sierra Crossing offers something rare: a place designed not just to shelter, but to support. Developed by Valley Teen Ranch, a Fresno-area organization with decades of experience serving youth at risk, Sierra Crossing delivers 96 units of permanent affordable housing on a 4.48-acre infill site and marks a milestone as Fresno's first multi-family modular housing development.

MBH Architects served as Factory Executive Architect, collaborating with design architect KTGY Architecture + Planning and modular manufacturer Harbinger Production Inc (formerly Factory OS) to ensure that units built offsite could be delivered, set, and connected with precision and speed. By front-loading coordination at the factory level, the team compressed the construction timeline without compromising the care embedded in every detail.

Sunny courtyard between beige modern apartments, with small trees, a wooden table, and a clear blue sky.

Designed Around the People Inside

At the heart of the campus, an intentional indoor/outdoor gathering space connects the residential buildings, creating a natural community center where residents can encounter one another. A gated entry with onsite support offices and a covered outdoor area reinforce the sense of a cared-for community rather than a managed facility. Each unit, a single-bedroom layout at approximately 770 square feet, was designed at the module level, with electrical and plumbing fully integrated before delivery to the site.

Modern compact kitchen with wood cabinets, stainless appliances, and a bright bedroom visible through open doors in the background.

Modular Housing Construction in Service of a Mission

At Sierra Crossing, speed wasn't just an efficiency goal. Every month that housing is delayed is a month a young person remains without stability. Modular construction made it possible to deliver 96 homes faster than traditional methods would allow, without sacrificing quality or livability.

MBH's role as Factory Executive Architect required deep coordination with the manufacturing process: aligning module design with site conditions, managing tolerances, and ensuring that what came off the factory floor would connect seamlessly on a constrained urban lot. That behind-the-scenes work is what allows a project like this to land the way it should, on time, on budget, and ready to welcome residents.

The project's recognition at the 2026 World of Modular Awards reflects what the team already knew: that thoughtful modular design, applied to supportive housing, can produce results that stand alongside any conventionally built development.

Modern apartment complex with beige and white facades behind a wide green lawn under a clear blue sky.

A Foundation, Not Just a Floor Plan

Sierra Crossing is built on the understanding that housing alone is not enough. Valley Teen Ranch operates the campus with onsite case management, life skills programming, mental and physical health referrals, and employment resources, the services that turn a roof into a real foundation. The physical environment was designed to support that mission: a welcoming, well-maintained campus where residents have both privacy and community, independence and access to help.

For MBH, Sierra Crossing is a demonstration of what modular housing can accomplish when every partner, developer, architect, manufacturer, and contractor, is aligned around a shared purpose.

Interested in learning more about our modular and multifamily housing expertise?