Funded with $1.2 million in public funds, the Roosevelt Row shipping container model home exhibit will eventually be used to house unprotected people in Phoenix. But first, it helps private companies make money.
Local housing experts are divided over whether the new project will spur large-scale development of rapidly moving-in modular homes and the impact it will have on proud private developers. “Exquisite Downtown Phoenix Life” It can target low-income households in need of affordable housing.
In late January, five model homes made from shipping containers will be installed along Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. City-owned land near Second and Roosevelt Streets has been vacant for over 15 years, with the exception of a short-term temporary parking project in 2016. We also offer daily tours to sell more homes to our customers and raise awareness about sustainable living.
The shipping container homes, which developers call SparkBoxes, It can be used for a variety of purposes, such as ancillary dwelling units, detached houses, and temporary housing for detached houses.
The project is funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Arizona Department of Housing. The grant is part of her $60 million that the state legislature has allocated to his 2022 Housing Trust Fund, according to the Housing Department.
“This is a local company with a strong track record in developing innovative container homes,” said Dave Cherry, spokesman for the State Housing Authority. phoenix new times.
The Roosevelt Row project features two studio apartments and three one-bedroom apartments, each fully furnished and self-powered by rooftop solar panels. The unit is staged with boxed plants and an outdoor entertaining space.
“Our hope is to demonstrate innovative, sustainable and smart solutions for rapid home growth,” said Kathleen Santin, both Steel + Spark and Phoenix container home developer Local Studio. said Brian Stark, co-owner of “We want to spread awareness and help advance laws and zoning ordinances to encourage this type of housing.”
The grant is part of at least $4.2 million in public funding Steel + Spark has received in recent months. In December, the Phoenix City Council will install four refurbished 40-foot shipping containers that hold up to 20 people to house homeless people as part of a major Southwest Phoenix development. Approved a $3 million contract with the company. According to city data When of Arizona Republic.
Steel + Spark shipping container homes will soon fill this lot near Roosevelt Row.
Elias Weiss
Are containers easy?
The exhibition will run until June. The model homes are then moved to an undisclosed location in the Valley to serve as housing for unprotected people.
“We are still debating where the units will go, but they will be used to house the homeless,” Cherry said. We have prioritized possible solutions.”
But you need more than just a typical residential unit. It’s an affordable residential unit. Arizona ranks in the bottom five among all states for affordable housing, according to . Survey April 2022 From the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Research shows there are only 26 affordable housing options for every 100 low-income households in the state.
The company has not announced a selling price for the unit. But when Stark’s latest venture, IDA on McKinley, opened earlier this year, he offered monthly rental rates for more basic one-bedroom container apartments, starting at $1,700.
Assuming the standard that rent should not exceed one-third of income, a renter would need an annual income of at least $61,200 to pay $1,700 in monthly rent.That’s double the median income in Arizona According to the U.S. Census Bureau.
After Subway Phoenix Rent 30% up In 2021, the Arizona Department of Housing states: 270,000 new homes needed to meet demand. Roosevelt Row’s Steel + Spark project offers five units, each of which he can accommodate one or two people.
“Our hope is to encourage the use of rapid occupied container housing across the state for all types of uses, both at affordable and marketable prices,” Cherry said. If successful, we expect many other container and modular companies to grow their operations and use the exposure to provide many of the thousands of housing units needed statewide.”
But Stephen Deubel, host of a local Container Living radio show, said: boxcar universe ABC 15’s container housing expert Sonoran Living, not sure if he buys the premise. Deubel has worked on government-funded housing projects in Arizona and in Phoenix where he has spent 17 years designing, developing and reviewing container homes.
“This will put a lot of focus on building container homes, no doubt about that,” Deubel said. new times“I doubt it will inspire other investors to get government-funded loans.”

The developer of McKinley’s IDA is also the one building the demonstration container homes along Roosevelt Row.
William Legron
return on investment
Elizabeth Venable, co-founder of the Fund for Empowerment, a homeless advocacy group in Phoenix, remembers renting an apartment on Roosevelt Row for $425 a month in the early 2000s. today, average rent in the neighborhood A studio is $1,732 and a one-bedroom is $1,927.
“It’s a shame they spend this kind of money on such a small return,” Venable said. new timesThe project “isn’t enough to cover the amount of housing we could have paid for. Other projects are needed far more than filling out adverts for model homes that later turn into a handful of units.” increase.”
$1.2 million in subsidies for 5 containers, roughly $240,000. per unit. However, the average container housing construction cost he $10,000 to $35,000. Deubel said he was upset when he learned that the grant would only allow him to build five bedrooms.
“It’s an amazing price. I’m sure there’s other infrastructure that needs to be done, but the dollar numbers seem a little high,” he said. “They’re getting all this money for something that doesn’t seem worth much.”
Steel + Spark has incorporated new technologies into this project, including incinerating toilets, real off-grid energy storage, high-efficiency air conditioning, gray water treatment systems, and water filtration systems. “It takes a lot of research, development, investment, and time to get all these items built into his prefabricated unit and ready to use,” he says Stark.
He said a small portion of the grant will fund park operations and educational materials.

Developers of container home pilot projects hope to maximize exposure thanks to the upcoming Super Bowl.
Elias Weiss
“Maximum Exposure”
Super Bowl 57 lottery will be held in early February Estimated 100,000 Roam the streets of Phoenix while participating in football-related revelry. The developers of the Roosevelt Row container project want to make the most of the increased crowd.
“Their proposal for this demonstration during the Super Bowl provided maximum exposure to raise awareness of the potential of this type of housing,” Cherry said.
However, the main purpose of installments is to attract customers who can join a waiting list to buy container homes at an unspecified price. People from out of town are also welcome to buy because they can.
City records show that Steel + Spark paid the city of Phoenix a license fee to place containers on the Roosevelt Row property. Fees will be deposited into the city’s Downtown Community Reinvestment Fund for downtown landscaping and other upgrades. After June 2023 the license is no longer valid.
Stark said he hopes to work with government agencies and other stakeholders on similar projects that could have a greater and more direct impact on the unprotected population in Phoenix.
“We will continue to work to advance innovative housing with whomever we partner,” he said.
Cherry added that the use of container houses to help unprotected populations could grow beyond Phoenix.
“We expect to see more of this type of non-collective shelter housing in other jurisdictions to accommodate the growing homeless population across the state,” he said.