Samara, a design-led California home builder known for its backyard accessory dwelling unit (ADU), is aiming to address the state’s housing crisis one small residence at a time.
The Redwood City-based firm, which is backed by Airbnb, Thrive Capital, 8VC, and other investors, is helping to transform underutilized land at existing multifamily communities into new rental homes in supply-constrained markets.
Mike McNamara, co-founder and CEO of Samara, says California Senate Bill 1211, which was signed into law in 2024, has streamlined the addition of ADUs to multifamily properties. With the state encouraging infill housing, eight ADUs per parcel can be placed onto surplus space in a multifamily or condo community. He calls it a “win-win” for owners, communities, and residents.
“Everything we are doing is supported by regulations by the state,” he says. “In addition, it’s great economics for multifamily operators because they already own the land. When you take existing infrastructure and gently densify it with small homes, it makes it attractive for people to live there.”
Samara’s first in-ground ADU project is a partnership with Prometheus Real Estate Group, a multifamily operator in the Bay Area. Prometheus is adding eight ADUs to Madrone, a 272-unit garden-style community in Mountain View.
“Multifamily owners and operators are sitting on one of the most overlooked opportunities to add new housing in high-demand neighborhoods,” he adds. “With Prometheus, we’re demonstrating how ADUs can be a scalable tool to add high-quality homes within established communities.”
All eight units, which are expected to be ready to rent by the end of the year, will be 800 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Samara builds the units off-site and then lays the foundation and connects the utilities on-site to make it seamless for the owners and create minimal disruption for the existing residents.
“From a Prometheus standpoint, they already paid for the land, and it’s not being utilized. They can put these little houses in that provide a cool living experience and enhance the value of the property,” McNamara says. “But most importantly, it yields better than any other project because they already have land that is underutilized.”
Madrone is the first of three committed projects Samara has with Prometheus.
“Samara has helped us unlock a new opportunity across our portfolio,” says Ian Rogers, vice president of asset management at Prometheus. “Their approach allows us to add homes to our existing communities quickly, with minimal disruption for residents and in a way that stays true to our design standards. It’s no secret that California needs more housing, and this partnership checks all the boxes for us: It’s smart business, it benefits our residents, and it helps create more homes in the places people want to live.”
According to McNamara, Samara has six models available for multifamily owners that are customizable in terms of configurations and finishes.
“We have this whole kit of housing unit sizes, and we mix and match to get the most optimal yield for that owner,” he says.
Samara is working statewide and currently is in about 35 cities. In addition to focusing on infill housing at existing multifamily communities, the firm is serving consumers with traditional ADUs for their backyards, and it also recently launched a new product called Locale, which is creating a cottage court of starter homes on single-family infill lots.