Monday, October 26, 2009

Containerized Home Builder Eyes Tacoma Port as Asian Gateway

A Fife, Washington-based manufacturer of 'containerized' homes is looking to the Port of Tacoma as an Asian export gateway for its products.

American Container Homes, which manufactures homes that are pre-assembled in sections that can fit into standard shipping containers, also hopes to develop a South American gateway through Beaumont, Texas and a Canadian export facility north of Spokane.

The firm announced last week that it is preparing to export its first order of the 1,200-square-foot 3-bedroom homes, which come with electric appliances and are pre-wired and pre-plumbed, to Israel.

The collapsible units may be configured as a single-family residence or when paired with additional units as a duplex, a two-section single-family residence or an apartment building. The entire building unit and garage can be fit into a single shipping container if applicable.

ACH's parent firm, Spokane, Washington-based All American Corp., has been developing the collapsible homes for some time and currently has five offices throughout Washington state offering various alternative housing options.

According to AAC officials, subsidiary American Container Homes is in talks with mobile home builder Clayton Homes– owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire-Hathaway– to handle manufacturing of as many as 500 of the collapsible homes a day at Clayton facilities across the nation.