File photo: A Google search page is reflected in sunglasses in this photo illustration taken in Brussels May 30, 2014. (REUTERS/Francois Lenoir)
Soaring home prices and apartment rents in Silicon Valley have become a growing headache for technology titans. Google owner Alphabet Inc. is taking a step toward addressing the issue.
The Mountain View, Calif., company is finalizing an order to buy 300 apartment units from Factory OS, a modular-home startup, in a building likely to serve as short-term housing for Google employees, according to executives from both companies.
The expected value of the deal is $25 million to $30 million, according to Rick Holliday, founder and chief executive of Factory OS. It would be the first order for the company.
Modular-building technology, essentially factory-built homes that are pieced together onsite, could help reduce the cost of construction in the Bay Area by 20% to 50%, experts said.
This story originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
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