Around Atlanta, homes built from old shipping containers that once transported goods in bulk aren’t exactly commonplace, but the concept is hardly new. 

A full community built from shipping containers is a different story. 

A project called Stacks at Wilson is coming together in the Dixie Hills neighborhood west of downtown that backers call relatively affordable, eco-conscious, and “unlike anything Atlanta has ever seen.” 

It’s the brainchild of a husband-wife development team, Joshua and Courtney Booth, owners of Concrete Roots Group. The company aims to build cutting-edge, unconventional homes of 40-foot steel boxes that are friendlier to the planet from the outset and could ultimately help boost up the neighborhood by redeveloping underused land or dilapidated housing, according to project reps. 

The site in question is a collection of vacant lots purchased by Concrete Roots just north of Westview Cemetery, separated from the famed burial ground by Interstate 20. The West Lake MARTA Station is a few blocks to the east. 

Drone's view from Buckhead to downtown, to the east. Courtesy of Concrete Roots

Plans call for Stacks at Wilson to ultimately have six house built from stacked and fused shipping containers on adjacent Wilson Avenue lots, with a rough timeline of two to three years until it's all finished, says project broker Jeff Beal, a principal at Compass’ Team Trilogy. 

The second Stacks home is in final design review now, with construction expected to start in late spring, Beal says. 

As sellers tell it, the first completed home—a three bedroom, two and ½ bathroom dwelling in all white, as seen in the gallery above—created a buyer frenzy when it listed late last summer. 

Steel-enscased living spaces at the first finished house. Courtesy of Concrete Roots

After listing for $319,900, an open house weekend drew more than 70 potential buyers and shipping-container home enthusiasts—and six over-ask offers. 

In September it traded for $349,000, or $21,000 over the asking price, according to Compass. That’s the single-family price record for Dixie Hills in recent years, but possibly not for long. 

Beal says the remaining five houses will range widely in terms of size and cost—from three to five bedrooms each, with between 2,000 and 4,800 square feet, priced in the ballpark of $320,000 to $475,000. 

Garage door in the living room, a passage to the elevated deck. Courtesy of Concrete Roots

The steel-framed homes will feature contemporary finishes inside, plus patios and decks, and exteriors with industrial panache. They’re marketed as being energy efficient, thanks to higher insulating values, as well as “low maintenance and durable, lasting longer than your traditional home built from pressure-treated wood.” 

Eventually, Concrete Roots plans to incorporate rain-water retention and solar capabilities into residences it builds.  

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