MIDLAND, Texas — The housing market is a hot topic of discussion in the Permian Basin and as several communities continue to boom, one organization officially got involved in a futuristic way Monday.
Tech company Athena Space Homes kicked off their modular smart home Monday with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
They were joined by the Midland Chamber of Commerce and M-Squad Ambassardors.
The first smart home by Athena Space Homes is set up at 1508 North County Rd. 1130.
The smart homes are meant to give West Texans a smart, futuristic and affordable home with views to connect nature.
"When I first found them last year they I've studied tiny homes for over 10 years," Athena Space Homes Co-Founder Janice Jensen said. "I love tiny homes. And when I saw this type, I have a home in the hill country, and it's all glass in my bedroom and I have a glass to the skylight, I mean the stars. When I saw this, this is what everybody needs. You need to be outside connecting with nature then you can check your curtains or you can have the automatic skylight shut and open."
Co-Founder Denisa McNeese took somewhat of a different approach when thinking of the smart home.
"I'm more practical I like this because it can survive a level eight storm," McNeese said. "It's double stainless steel, cheap to operate [and] it's affordable. I can live in one of these every day and have a lot less clutter."
Jenson and McNeese came up with the design of the homes and another factor that played a big role was making it affordable for people to live in.
"There's lots of different opportunities for different people to have a home for less than $100,000 and that's what we're excited to do is offer affordable housing," Jensen said. "The smallest, which is like a little podcast booth, which is a cute little thing, [is] for $35,000. $174,000 [for a] four stackable big serenity units together with a patio and a balcony."
To learn more about Athena Space Homes, people can visit their website athenaspacehomes.com.