Sacramento Architect Dreams Of Shipping Container Housing In City

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — They transport goods and are typically seen on boats and trains, but one Sacramento architect wants to have people call shipping containers home.

He's hoping the city will get behind a mixed-use project built solely with the giant steel boxes.

A half-acre lot could soon house the development that Federico Cohan says he can do in half the time and half the cost of a regular project.

"We're using the structures of shipping containers that are lot stronger than building the conventional way," he said. "We're able to keep our cost down about 50 to 70 percent."

He believes the next trend in urban design comes from shipping containers. He's planning to break ground on a 15,000-square-foot mixed-use project called Luxe Urban Life. With five retail spaces, five residential units and an entertainment area, Cohan says his goal is to make city living cool, eco-friendly and affordable.

"Our smaller home is going to be a studio home which will be 340 square feet," he said. "It will be a studio home that people will be able to buy for $70,000 and it will go up from there."

Containers run between $3,000 and $5,000 each, a price that was right for Federalist in Midtown Sacramento. The restaurant and bar is made up of seven containers that owner Marvin Maldonado hopes will inspire a new wave of development.

"It's great to see other alternative building forms and low income housing and just in general, a nice broad scope of work that's being produced and I hope we can continue to push the envelope that way," he said.

While several Bay Area cities have already hopped on the hip new wagon, some locals say the idea could also help serve a broader role for veterans and the homeless.

"I think it'd be a great idea for homeless people or veterans. I'm a vet so I see the need for homes for that. And even for $500 a month, it'd be good," said Dave Ventura.

Cohan is still waiting on final approval from the city. CBS13 contacted Mayor Kevin Johnson's office for comment, but he wasn't available.