In response to the high real estate costs and housing shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland startup Boxouse seeks to find ways to turn steel containers into homes. 

Spearheaded by entrepreneur Luke Iseman, Boxouse aims to capitalize on the fact that converting a shipping container into a home is cheaper and faster than building a traditional home. At only 160 square feet each, they can also be stacked into towers just like apartments. Purchasing one of these homes from Iseman will cost about $8,000 for a basic model and $50,000 for a full version that includes solar power, water, and even a septic tank.

If the idea takes off, there could be a steady supply of low-cost housing in the form of shipping containers. But it hasn’t gained steam yet and that’s largely due to questions about whether city officials will approve the alternative housing solution. At the moment, Bay Area zoning and permitting rules don’t welcome innovative alternative housing solutions like Iseman’s. 

Iseman plans to apply for permits for his box houses this month, as none of these shipping-containers-turned-homes are legal yet in Oakland. But city officials, such as Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, have expressed interest in the idea. According to a Mercury News report, Kaplan believes that any idea that “has the potential to solve our growing homelessness crisis is worth exploring.”