Kingston Logistics Centre Limited (KLC) has demonstrated yet another innovative way it uses shipping containers with the introduction of pre-fabricated container homes which are now available for sale.

On Wednesday the company launched its “Upcycled Container Homes” at Newport West in Kingston with model home on show. The Jamaica Observer toured the newly constructed two-bedroom model home, dubbed ‘The Mod-Donna’, valued at $8.5 million.

The Mod-Donna consists of a combination of two shipping containers — a 20-foot and a 40-high cube container — and is designed with a roof, front porch, kitchen, living space and bathroom with a coverage area of 480 square feet. Though the space is small, “they are just enough house to make it a home,” and is pitched as the perfect starter home for middle-income earners.

KLC currently offers six types of homes from one bedroom to three bedrooms with price tags ranging between $2.5 million to $12.5 million. Marketing and business development manager at KLC Cherine Forbes explained to the Caribbean Business Report that they determined the cost based on the market.

“We wanted to ensure that we also factored in our inflationary rate and basically what we think the market would be ready and willing to take, it’s a new product so the market will ultimately decide whether they receive it or we will have to adjust but really that’s where we’re starting,” she said.

KLC Managing Director Kisha Williams-Hare further sought to explain that the price point is flexible as homeowners can start with a smaller unit and slowly expand as they grow with the addition of as many container units as they see fit in time.

“A container is like a Leggo toy; you can add as you go. You have a 40-foot [container], you say all I can afford is a studio and you put a bathroom, next year you might get some money, you take another 40-foot [container] and we can open it out for you. So this is you creating that square footage, so you can add as you go,” she said enthusiastically.

Container homes, though a new venture for KLC, is not new locally considering a handful of the population had already begun using shipping containers to created unique living and working spaces — an observation that KLC noted and decided to make it official and not leave the upcycling of containers as a project for Jamaicans.

“While people have been doing it, they had the capabilities and experience, it was never really offered as an official house before…as a company offering it to the general market at this level and this scale, we don’t have that in Jamaica,” Forbes told Caribbean Business Report.

With the container homes market projected to grow to US$87.1 billion by 2029 and KLC being no stranger to modifying containers for commercial uses, Forbes said it was only a natural progression to capsulate container housing in the offering to become a turnkey housing solution.

While sharing the reservations Jamaicans may have about container homes, KLC’s managing director says in order for container homes to become a normal housing option, it will require a shift in Jamaicans cultural mindset because it will also provide an opportunity to help address Jamaica’s housing challenge.

“Jamaicans have a stigma about containers. We are a block and steel country but we want to show that there are other alternatives to housing solutions. It’s big in Europe and the States, [so] why not here?” Williams-Hare asked rhetorically.

She further explained that one of the biggest reservations is that it looks too much like a container, which is why the company decided to renovate the containers to display its potential to market. The next step is securing financial assistance through the National Housing Trust (NHT).

“I’m hoping that this event will really show them [NHT] that container homes is an option… I would love it to be a part of what you call ‘get your own home’ at the 7.5,” she said optimistically.

Currently, anyone interested in purchasing a container home can only access funding from NHT through its ‘build on your own land’ mortgage option. KLC have partnered with Alternative Power Sources to offer solar powered electricity on all its units in support of its mission of promoting a greener, more sustainable way of living.

“You can put one of these homes in an area where there is no electricity and you need electrical power and for that reason we have installed a solar system here and have partnered with them [KLC] in future homes to put a solar system in those homes,” managing director of Alternative Power Sources Damion Lynn informed the Caribbean Business Report.

He explained that because container homes are mobile units, the need for solar is necessary. The cost for the solar power starts at $1.5 million and can be increased over time along with the growth of the size of the container home. Individuals who purchase KLC container homes will receive a 30 per cent to 50 per cent discount on starter packages for solar installations.

Kingston Logistics Centre has also partnered with Courts Jamaica Limited, Elegant Creative Glass, Stephen Jones Landscaping and SAJE Property Services & Realtors Association of Jamaica to offer discounts for potential buyers to outfit their home with all the needed resources and accessories.

KLC is eyeing the business prospect to build an entire housing scheme made entirely out of container homes.