| NEWS | Home, Sweet Box Peek inside Phoenix’s next affordable housing project: old shipping containers. BY MIKE MADRIAGA W hen the cost of a single-family home hewn from wood and traditional construc- tion materials is out of reach for many low-income Phoenix resi- dents, and hell, some middle-income earners too — the concept of what consti- tutes a suitable house is likely to change. And some residents might be more willing to live in tiny apartments under 500 square feet, even used shipping containers. At least that’s what Mesa-based home- builder Luke Crosthwaite, who is sitting on a sandy lot of two dozen used shipping containers, is banking on. He thinks Arizona residents are looking for alterna- tives to a crushing housing market for both home purchases and rentals alike. The owners of Crosthwaite Custom Construction have been collecting a “monster garage” of tiny container homes in Apache Junction on the site of All-Star Storage. The company is under contract with a local housing developer to deliver by truck an entire apartment complex made of old shipping containers to the 900 block of East Jones Avenue in Phoenix by the end of May. Low-income renters could snap up the apartments for $1,000 a month each, but when government assistance is applied to the rent, individuals would pay $300 a month out of pocket. The project in South Phoenix, 927 Jones Apartments LLC, is owned by Steve Villarreal, city planning documents show. It was not immediately clear how much the development cost to construct or if there were any outside investors. Villarreal told Phoenix New Times that the project was just an idea a few years ago and “now it’s coming to fruition.” While some affordable housing projects in Arizona are public-private partnerships with government entities such as the city of Phoenix, this development is not, according to city records. Individuals can apply to live at the new apartment complex by sending an email to [email protected] but income restric- tions could apply, according to the construction company. The U.S. Department of Housing and Crosthwaite Custom Construction Urban Development, or HUD, coordinates with privately-owned apartment complexes which allow Section 8 voucher holders to choose where they reside as long as the landlord has the proper docu- mentation to accept such vouchers as payment. Individuals who participate in the city of Phoenix’s Housing Choice Voucher program funded by HUD pay at least 30 percent of their income toward monthly rent and then the program money can be used to pay the remaining balance. During a recent tour of the apartments under development, the construction company’s leadership explained the vision. “So this will be a downstairs unit, and it’s made out of four 40-foot long by 8-foot wide shipping containers,” said Josh Bleak, co-founder of the construction company. “There will be four apartment units on each floor; each unit will be 320 square feet.” “Josh is the Harley to my Davidson,” Crosthwaite quipped, then the two laughed. But there’s nothing funny about the business model the two have been formu- lating and blueprinting since early last year. Crosthwaite, a 40-year-old contractor and designer, and Bleak, a 41-year-old ship- ping container customizer and broker are leveraging the storage unit lot owned by Bleak’s family-owned storage business. The project is expected to have water, power, and fire sprinkler lines by Memorial Day. Shipping container homes are what they sound like: homes built using shipping containers that once carried products on ships, trucks, and trains. The recycled homes or apartments are predominantly made with used containers fresh off sea-worthy vessels. Some builders prefer new containers — referred to as ‘one trip containers’ in the estimated $150 billion shipping industry, according to a Fortune Daily report — as they were likely shipped from China to the U.S., then immediately put aside to be transformed into homes. Advocates argue that recycled shipping containers retrofitted into tiny homes are an environmentally friendly alternative to chopping down trees or even sourcing new metal for construction. Some corrugated metal walls are likely to show oxidation as metal is exposed to the elements for years. And several containers hail from the Port of Long Beach after being sailed across the Pacific Ocean from factories in China. The contractor used a plasma cutter to chop out the walls allowing space for new doors and windows. “So anytime we make any type of cut or penetration, we go back in with a full steel tube frame so that there’s no sag or there’s no compromising the overall structure,” Bleak said. The original weather-tight cargo doors that swung open at the end of each container were removed. The doors, along with their cam and lock system, will prob- ably be retrofitted onto future loft or modern-home projects. “We build pretty much anything out of steel. We’ve done planters, fencing, turn them horizontally and can be made into awning covers — and the signage for the complex,” Crosthwaite said. Shipping container homes are generally smaller than traditional homes and can be Low-income renters could snap up the apartments for $1,000 a month each, but when government assistance is applied to the rent, individuals would pay $300 out of pocket. transported easily. Around the beginning of May, the bottom section of the apart- ments will be loaded onto individual trailers, then hauled using a truck along Highway 60 for about 35 miles. The multi-family complex in South Phoenix will be two stories high and each unit is no larger than 320 square feet, which means it’s a tiny apartment. “The idea was you’re going to have a TV and a small sofa in here,” Bleak said. “Then, this area represents your kitchen, so there’ll be a kitchen island here, a refriger- ator, and then your cooking area. This kitchen and living room area is half of the build.” The company uses a “vapor barrier” so it “doesn’t sweat like a can” in the desert heat, Bleak said. Next, electricians routed the wires from behind the front doors where the panel boards will be mounted, then along with the underbellies of the drywall and ceil- ings. Then, plumbers laid the piping, and Contractor Fire Protection & Backflow Services from Mesa installed the fire sprin- kler system. Additionally, each apartment will have an air condition unit which the team will install on-site. There are two standard heights in the shipping container industry, roughly 8 or 9 feet. One environmental downside when constructing shipping container >> p 17 15 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES MARCH 24TH– MARCH 30TH, 2022
