One thing that Yuma residents may see more of in the future are homes and businesses constructed from the colorful shipping containers that transport cargo across the seas.
Recent updates to Yuma’s building code now allow shipping containers to be used in residential or commercial applications, opening the door to tiny homes and novel business applications.
Ivonn Carlos, owner if Pacific Storage Solutions, spoke about the changes and what shipping containers are capable of offering.
According to Carlos, who sells the containers, the changes to building codes allow for people and business owners to consider new avenues when deciding on their building.
“It’s going to be a lot faster than a house,” she said, speaking about the construction phase, although she did note that due to the changes being so new, the permitting process has been taking longer than a traditional building would. “It will be a little more complicated for right now because this is a new process.”
Carlos explained that the modular and easy-to-work nature of shipping containers make them a compelling choice for homeowners in particular.
“For a house, they can do a mother-in-law house on their property,” she said, opining that by adding living space to their property, the value would increase.
For businesses, she emphasized the speed at which functional spaces could be set up, and the durability of shipping container.
“If they buy a new container, it should last for about 25 years without fixing the walls or anything. They’re easy to build,” she noted.
Because of their inherent portability and rugged exteriors, Carlos also sees a lot of use for the buildings on mobile job sites, as a sort of portable office.
“They can take a container office and move it around if they have a different project at a different location,” Carlos explained.
While the change in building code is recent for Yuma, many other locations have already begun rolling out the concept, largely to success.
“It’s very ‘in’ in California. Texas is a big market, there’s a lot of companies already, and they just do that,” she said. “It just depends on the audience, because it’s something that you’re going to start seeing very often.
Still, Carlos warns that people itching to set up something on their property should still go through the proper permitting channels. Not only to remain in compliance, but also to prevent serious potential damages to their property.
“They’re going to have a lot of requirements; it’s almost like a house. If you buy a container, you need to have a permit,” she said. “It’s just a $15 permit, but a lot of people don’t want to get it, they think ‘it’s my property, I can do whatever I want’. But it’s actually a good thing to ask for the permit because they’re going to tell you, don’t do it on this spot because you have your septic tank, or you have your pipes, things like that.”
As for what that permitting process looks like, Carlos spoke about her own journey acquiring the permits for a shipping container office building she is working on. According to Carlos, while the initial permit revision process can be lengthy, the following construction can make up for that delay.
“They can take about six weeks to review it, then if something was wrong, I had to take it back to my architect,” she said.
After the architect made the revisions, she had to resubmit the plans. “Another six weeks, and that’s why it’s a long process.”
Carlos believes, however, that as the rules have time to mature, the plan review window should shrink.
“It’s a new thing for the city, something very new, that’s why they’re taking longer.”
One example that’s already up and going is Eddie’s Food & Drink in San Luis. The outdoor venue is a courtyard with several restaurants and bars fashioned from shipping containers into a rather chic establishment. Rather than the austere industrial atmosphere one might expect, visitors are instead greeted with a modern, novel establishment, proving that with the proper planning, shipping containers are a viable option for business owners.
Another example is Lemon Grove in Yuma, which is using a container to house its bathrooms.
Carlos believes that the best target for this new avenue of building will be small business owners who want to establish a brick-and-mortar location while staying within their budget.
“It’s not that hard. It’s just framing. There’s a couple options if they want spray insulation, solar panels, or plumbing,” she said. “It depends on how rough you want it or how fancy you want it.”
