Missing Middle Housing is a transformative concept that highlights the need for diverse, affordable housing choices in sustainable, walkable places.
Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis
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We are the chief architects of the Missing Middle Housing movement.
Opticos principal Daniel Parolek coined the term Missing Middle Housing in 2010, transforming the national conversation about the need for more diverse housing choices at affordable prices. Since then, we’ve been driving a radical paradigm shift, urging architects, urban planners, and builders to fundamentally rethink the way they design, locate, regulate and develop homes. Americans want and need more diverse housing choices in walkable neighborhoods; homes that are attainable, sustainable and beautifully designed.
Missing Middle Housing Site Planning and Architecture
Meeting the Demand for Walkable Living
At Opticos, we design custom urban housing types that are different from anything else on the market. We don’t look at the housing types that have been built and sold in the recent past. Instead, we’ve studied a broad range of market segments and we design the kind of homes that people want today. Our designs are new and different, and they’re creating walkable, urban neighborhoods that people want to call home. In doing this, we deliver remarkable efficiencies for our clients while developing high-quality living environments for home buyers and renters. Everybody wins.
The Missing Middle Housing Collection™
Unique, Market-Ready Housing Solutions
Through our work designing Missing Middle Housing for clients across the country, we’ve developed The Missing Middle Housing Collection™ which consists of products ready to meet your needs. Features like 100% efficiencies, high quality private and shared outdoor spaces, and their ability to reinforce a strong sense of community make these attractive to both builders and buyers.
Missing Middle Neighborhoods
Redefining Multifamily Living
We can help you develop a new kind of neighborhood that will attract the growing number of people who prefer to rent, but who don’t want to live in a conventional apartment complex. Some of these folks are just choosing to rent longer, while others are re-entering the rental market in an effort to downsize. Either way, we can help you build a neighborhood composed entirely of Missing Middle Housing rentals, or a combination of rental and for sale units. Not your ordinary multifamily project or new neighborhood!
“Opticos worked closely with us to design a beautiful, diverse neighborhood... It’s been a true pleasure working with them to fulfill my vision.”
— Jerry Reimer, Co-founder, Urban Village Development
Featured Projects
Strategic Advising
Helping Private Developers Make Their Mark
We are the undisputed experts when it comes to Missing Middle Housing. We can help you expand your business model to include Missing Middle Housing types, including finding the right sites, securing funding and connecting with other builders and professionals doing similar work. Looking to target a specific city or neighborhood for strategic investing in MMH? We can help with that, too.
Helping Cities Implement Missing Middle Housing
We can help you bring Missing Middle Housing to your city or town. Perhaps you need an area plan or a specific plan that will remove barriers and spark development of MMH. Maybe you are hoping to integrate MMH into your strategic housing plan, a comprehensive plan or a zoning fix or rewrite. We can kick things off with a Missing Middle Housing Scan™ to better understand the barriers and opportunities, and then get started. We’re here to help!
Interested? Call us today:
(510) 558-6957
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“Opticos' design of the Mews Homes was innovative and differentiated us from the market. It also enabled us to hit a price point near $200,000 that we had been unable to reach with our existing product types. Dan and the Opticos team have been a great partner, and we’re excited to work with them on new, creative projects in the future!"
— Spencer Holmes, Partner and Vice President, Holmes Homes
The End of Single-Family Zoning
Your City/State Just Enabled Multiple Units on Every Lot. Here are Six Tips for Successful Implementation.
Building Types in Zoning, Part 1: Why?
Building types are a key component of the physical environment and have existed for millennia in all types of walkable places: from crossroads and small towns to every size of city. Building types and the public realm have made all of these places. But despite their existence before zoning, building types were left aside when zoning focused on the separation of uses while relegating physical form and character to a non-essential role. The physical realities and qualities of walkable places that existed long before zoning were now viewed through the lens of use, density and Floor Area Ratio (FAR): a lens that is not capable of recognizing physical form and character.
Enable Missing Middle Housing in Your Town
Opticos principal Daniel Parolek inspired a new movement for housing choice in 2010 when he introduced the concept of the “missing middle” in American housing. Missing Middle Housing is a transformative concept that highlights the need for diverse, affordable housing choices in sustainable, walkable places. Since then, Opticos has worked with communities across the country to navigate the process of analyzing local codes, clearly identifying barriers, and developing solutions to enable Missing Middle Housing. Based on that work, we are excited to announce three new service packages. Download an overview of these new packages designed to Enable Missing Middle Housing in Your Town.
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