The team behind the Cargominium project – a 25-unit apartment building made out of shipping containers – has announced plans to build single family homes using the same material.
“We are planning to build nine homes on Bassett Avenue, between Old Leonard Avenue and Fifth Avenue,” said Derrick Pryor of AES Development, the co-developer, along with NISRE, Inc., of both projects. “We anticipate breaking ground in the fall with the first purchasers being in their homes by Christmas.”
The new homes will be built just around the corner from the apartment building, on city-owned lots which are in the process of being acquired from the Columbus Land Bank.
“We’re extremely excited about where we are…every day we get new inquiries into renting units once they become available,” said Michele Reynolds, Executive Director of NISRE, Inc, adding that they’ve also started to hear from individuals interested in the for-sale homes.
Reynolds said that the plans is to sell the two-story homes for just over $100,000. They will have three bedrooms and three full baths, along with a one-car, detached garage. Buyers will need to attend a homebuyer education class to get pre-approved for a mortgage, which comes with a down payment of only $500.
As for the Cargominium project, delays have pushed back the completion date for the project to September, but the development team remains bullish on the novel construction method.
“The applications and versatility associated with this building material and technology are amazing,” said Pryor. “This is the right market, this is the right community, and this is the right time to continue to provide more affordable housing solutions for the City of Columbus.”
For more information on the Cargominium apartments or the planned single-family homes, see www.nisreinc.org.