By Port Aransas South Jetty Staff | on January 26, 2022

A few shipping containers are in place at a development under construction in the 1500 block of 11th Street. The containers are being used as a structural component in the residential development. It reportedly is the first residential development in Port Aransas to use shipping containers, but the containers in this case will be largely covered by hardy plank when construction is complete on each house. An artist’s rendering of what the finished development is expected to look like is on Page 7A. Staff photo by Dan Parker

A new development underway on 11th Street is the first ever to use shipping containers in residential construction in Port Aransas, according to City Hall.

It has drawn both cheers and jeers in Facebook commentary.

Some have questioned the development’s aesthetics, even though construction only has just begun.

“Trash,” Irene Paugh wrote on Facebook.

Some said they expect the development to be too dense. Others questioned whether there will be adequate parking.

The development’s building plans has met all city codes, according to Rick Adams, director of development services at Port Aransas City Hall. City codes address parking requirements, density, building height and setback restrictions and many other aspects of construction.

Some Facebook posters have praised the development.

“They are very beautiful,” Jessica Followell wrote.

“It would be cool to have one of my own one day,” Jamison Parker wrote.

An artist’s rendering shows what several houses are expected to look like after a construction project wraps up in the 1500 block of 11th Street. Shipping containers are being used as structural components in the houses. Nearly all parts of the shipping containers will be concealed by hardy plank by the time construction is finished, the developer said. The ends of containers, cast in varying colors, can be seen in this illustration. The development got underway in December. The first houses are expected to be finished in about six months. Courtesy illustration

The property lies in the 1500 block of South 11th Street. It’s the same land that once was occupied by the Port Aransas Inn. Also known as “the pink hotel,” it was demolished in 2020.

Construction on the shipping container development began in December.

Ten houses will be built using the containers as a structural component, according to Al Honigblum, a San Antionio resident who is owner of the Contonics Group, the developer.

Six houses will front on 11th Street, while four will face Whispering Sands, just west of 11th Street, he said.

The containers are made of a material called Corten, which Honigblum said is a strong, low-maintenance type of steel. The composition of the metal allows rusting only up to a certain point, and then it stops, he said.

In order to receive government building code certification to be used for a habitat, the containers couldn’t make more than one trip across an ocean aboard a ship, Honigblum said. And they could be used only for soft goods such as clothing and fabrics, he said. Nothing that used toxins could receive certification, he said. His are certified, he said.

Each residence will consist of four containers, along with traditional framing and metal fabrication, according to Honigblum. Each container is 320 square feet in size.

Honigblum said he decided to use shipping containers for a number of reasons. Lumber prices have been high lately, and the containers had a “strength and unique quality (that) were very attractive,” he said.

He said he also wanted to create houses that are unique in town. Part of the idea is “to capture the techy millennial (buyer) … that would appreciate stepping outside the box,” Honigblum said.

“ This type of housing construction (and) development has been used on the West Coast for many years and has become extremely popular throughout the country over the past couple of years,” he said.

By the time construction is finished on each house, nearly all of the shipping containers will be concealed by hardy plank, he said.

Only the ends of the containers will be exposed “to express the tectonics of the inner core,” Honigblum said.

“The exposed ends will be finished with a special primer sealer and marine-grade paint,” he said.

It’s not a condominium development, according to Adams and Honigblum. Each house will be on an individually owned, fee-simple lot.

The property lies within a part of town with zoning that allows for short-term rentals. Whether these houses are used for short-term rentals will depend on the desire of each individual owner.

Each house will be 1,868 square feet in size and have a 400-square-foot deck on top of a carport. Each house will have four bedrooms, three-and-a-half-bathrooms, a pool and a back yard.

Honigblum said every house will have four off-street parking spaces. He said that meets city parking requirements.

On the subject of drainage, he said the development plan means “mitigating site runoff versus accelerating site runoff.”

While the Port Aransas Inn was 100 percent asphalt and concrete, which leads to more runoff, green space will be increased 40 to 50 percent over what was there previously, he said.

The houses will rest on piers and gravel will be under the structures, allowing for still more rainwater to percolate downward through the soil, rather than run off the property.

The development will be built gradually. Honigblum said he expects the first three houses to be finished within the next six months or so. The entire development won’t be finished until perhaps two and a half years from now, he said.

While at least one Facebook poster complained that the houses likely will be too close together, Honigblum said his company has abided by the city’s density rules.

He said city code required at least 10 feet between the houses, but they’ll be more like 15 feet apart.

As for building height, he said code allowed the structures to be up to 27 feet high, but these will be “closer to 25 feet, the way the city calculates it,” Honigblum said.

How will the structures stand up to hurricanes?

The houses “have been engineered to meet or exceed the required city code” related to “wind load,” Honigblum said.

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