Couple ships container condo project from Tucson to Denver

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Stackhouse co-founders Janelle Briggs and Ryan Egan. (Photo by Lily O’Neill)

Janelle Briggs and Ryan Egan are tired of hearing that millennials can’t afford a home.

You want a solution to Denver residents who feel like the next milestone is out of reach due to rising home prices – and they turned to shipping containers.

The couple are preparing to develop Stackhouse, a steel structure with slots for 62 of the containers at 3425 W. Colfax Ave.

“People are looking for creative solutions to housing because the only solution is to find a house and get five roommates to pay the mortgage,” Briggs said. “The greatest flexibility available to our generation is to pool our resources.”

Stackhouse’s seven-story building will have 320 square feet of containers with 8.5-foot ceilings and at least 120 square feet of private outdoor space. Buyers can choose between one-bedroom and studio layouts and pay between $ 110,000 and $ 130,000. Then they pay $ 200,000 to $ 350,000, depending on the floor and view, for a space in the West Colfax building, which will also have common areas.

Residents can customize their container using Denver-based Havenly’s free design service. There’s also a $ 100 monthly fee that covers WiFi, cable, trash, parking, water, electricity, and property maintenance, like a HOA fee for condominiums.

“We want to give people a chance to get rid of this 30-year mortgage loan,” Egan said.

A rendering of the seven story Stackhouse tower that would contain 62 shipping containers that have been converted into condominiums. (Courtesy Stackhouse)

22 of the containers in the West Colfax building are reserved for short-term rentals or a “trial before you buy” period. Residents can buy NFT shares in Stackhouse Corporation in exchange for a lease that allows them to live in a unit.

Stackhouse residents have the option of removing their shipping container house from the tower at any time. A crane built into the steel structure makes it possible if an owner wants to park the container on his own property or reload it to one of the additional buildings that Stackhouse wants to build in the future. If someone moves their shipping container, they can sell their space.

“That way, you never have to choose between a life opportunity and where you live,” said Egan. “This can be your home for the rest of your life.”

Egan and Briggs, who currently live in a sample container house, said they are still under contract for the 0.27-acre property in West Colfax, which housed a car wash and was listed for $ 1.3 million. Broker Nathan Stern of Broad Street Realty is representing her on the deal.

The couple hope to lay the foundation stone for the project next spring and, after 90 days of construction, to welcome the residents in autumn 2022.

“The city of Denver approved our concept within six months,” said Briggs. “The way traditional builders work with the system is cumbersome, so we wanted to create a solution to build homes for more people faster.”

Model ship container from Stackhouse in Denver, in which the co-founders currently live. (Photos by Lily O’Neill)

The couple said they had received interest from more than 2,000 people after setting up a waiting list in April, despite no one having paid a deposit. The company will adopt them in October.

“We have people of all ages and backgrounds interested in Stackhouse, which I think speaks to the housing crisis we are in,” said Briggs. “I mean, we have a condo building right here that is considered affordable and prices start at $ 450,000.”

Egan and Briggs came up with the idea for Stackhouse in 2017. The couple, who formerly lived in Tucson, Arizona, met through the dating app Bumble.

Egan previously worked for an auto repair company in Tucson that also bought mortgage letters on California real estate to supplement income, he said. He was working on a project in San Francisco across the street from a shipyard and “staring at containers all day.”

“That’s when I got the crazy idea of ​​living in an equipped shipping container,” said Egan. “I was tired of tending to my 2,500-square-foot home in Arizona, so I asked Janelle if she was on board for the idea, and she quickly agreed. I immediately thought of the containers because they would be easier to move from one place to another than to drive around with a tiny house. “

Briggs had previously lived in a 36-foot trailer with her family during high school, so this was nothing new. And they decided that others would probably be interested.

The kitchen in the 320 square meter model ship container.

“We’re excited to show Denver this new way of life,” she said. “I live in the house I’ve always wanted, and the kitchen I make coffee in every morning is the kitchen of my dreams.”

So for the past two years they’ve quit their jobs, sold Egan’s Tucson house, raided their 401Ks, and built a team to bring their vision to life. They have raised $ 200,000 in debt and will use pre-sales to fund development.

The original plan was to build the first Stackhouse site in Tucson and the approval process has stalled.

But last year they made a development proposal to Denver that turned out to be easier than they expected. And after completing the Techstars Anywhere Accelerator program this year, they said they had several suggestions to move the project to Denver, so “we decided to follow the signs,” Egan said.

“We have traveled to other cities for our proof-of-concept, but this is the first place of its kind in the world, all of which fit together for us in Denver,” said Briggs.

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