Turning shipping containers into sustainable housing, a kickoff event was held Wednesday for a unique project in Phoenix.
As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. In this case, they dropped it in with cranes.
"What this offers is something very creative, sustainable, and something that can be expedited from the ground up,” said Artlink, Inc. President and CEO Catrina Kahler.
Kahler, like dozens of others with interest in Phoenix's community and economic development, showed up at Spark Box Park near 2nd and Roosevelt Streets.
The crowd walked around and looked inside a small neighborhood housing project created with solar-powered and re-purposed shipping containers that are currently on display.
"We want as many solutions as possible. Behind me are shipping containers that can quickly become housing. They use robots to deliver them by crane. That means if we have available land, we can get a solution quickly,” said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
Speed is key, city leaders say when it comes to helping ease the housing crisis in Phoenix.
"As we look across the Valley, we are about 180,000 houses short right now. If we wait for homes or apartments to be built, that number is just going to grow,” said Phoenix’s Community and Economic Developer Christine Mackay.
Those at City Hall, who crunch the numbers with housing, say more inventory will bring pricing down.
"It's the law of supply and demand. The costs go up because there's not enough there,” added Mackay.
Most people at the event raved about the shipping containers being a good housing alternative that is sustainable. But, not many talked about the cost.
So, ABC15 asked the developers.
They say the Spark Box offices go for about $80,000 and the one-bedroom, one-bath units go for about $200,000.
