Time is of the essence in rebuilding Pacific Palisades and Altadena since the wildfires at the start of last year. Ghost Factory, an Austin, Texas-based mobile manufacturing platform, takes up the challenge with an unconventional home-building material: steel.
The ghostly concept behind the company came from its flexibility and mobility, said Matt McRoskey, the firm’s director of business development. Launched in 2025 by chief executives Spencer Padgett and Geoff Hackett, the mobile manufacturing platform sets up tents on the job site, deploys cold-formed steel production units and pumps out home-building items on demand.
“Each unit arrives in standard containers and becomes a fully operational manufacturing line within 24 hours,” said McRoskey, who was born and raised in Pacific Palisades. “We’ll come right to your front door.”
McRoskey also highlighted the platform’s efficiency and sustainability. Since every item is made-to-order directly on the job site, it limits waste and alleviates stress on local infrastructure and the supply chain.
“The biggest difference between our job site and everything else in town is there’s no waste bin,” McRoskey said. “If you’re building a massive multifamily project, you’re just printing the studs right on site. You can’t do that with wood.”
Wood vs. steel
Wood is still the dominant material to frame single-family homes, accounting for 94% of the market in 2024. On the other hand, steel comprised less than 0.5%, based on the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data.
Cost is a big reason: a 2002 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that steel-framed homes cost 40% more than wood-framed homes in material and labor.
Since then, the market has changed. The NAHB reports a rise of steel-framed homes – 4,000 were built in 2024, a 33% increase from the year before – and nearly 95% of those were in the South, where natural disasters like floods and tornadoes have ravaged homes and displaced thousands.
Steel-framed homes are more stable in terms of earthquakes and environmental disasters, McRoskey said. As for the cost, sourcing recycled steel from U.S. Steel, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corp., has significantly lowered the price, while Marsh & McLennan Cos. has agreed with the platform to insure the homes.
“In every case that we bid, the framed package has cost less than the same package with wood,” said McRoskey.
The young company was launched last year after the January fires devastated Altadena and Pacific Palisades. In November, it completed the first fully steel-framed home in the latter neighborhood, built for Carol’s Daughter Holdings founder Lisa Price.
Looking ahead, McRoskey said the company would expand to Altadena and Malibu after rebuilding in Pacific Palisades. Besides single-family homes, future constructions will include commercial buildings and community structures as well.
For now, the self-funded company has no plans to open funding rounds, but McRoskey said it is possible for the future.
“We want to work with all the schools, churches, synagogues, any commercial structure, it’s a huge benefit to the community,” said McRoskey. “[Palisades] is where I was raised, it’s where I raised my family and my children, and I just want to see it come back strong, and our focus is to allow as many folks to come back and be confident in rebuilding as possible.”
