It took some time, but builder Nick Foster got the building permit in November 2019 and started constructing Windsor's first shipping-container home last March.
He tells CTV Windsor, the home on Curry Avenue near Riverside Drive is now complete and you'd have to see it to believe it.
Foster hopes it's the first of many affordable storage-container homes built in Windsor-Essex.
"It's 1,400 sq.ft. in each unit, so it's a big home with three bedrooms and two baths," he says. "I've done all the heavy lifting, literally, now it's time for some investors to step-up and make this a reality for everyone."
Lisa Reichardt worked in the container industry in Toronto before moving to Essex County.
She pitched a storage container build to a local municipality a few years ago and was turned down, so she's happy to see Foster's project complete.
"The good thing about that build is that there's always got to be a first person to do it," she says. "When people see how successful that build is I think they'll follow suit."
Pre-fabricated containers are being manufactured and used around the world for everything from full homes to pool houses and office spaces.
Realtor Rhys Trenhail sees plenty of opportunities for the idea in Windsor-Essex.
"You get those and you drop them off on a concrete pad that's already created in the backyard. You hook up the wires, the plumbing," he says. "I do see that as part of the future of greater urban density especially with single family homes that add that extra unit in the back."
Ward 3 Councillor Rino Bortolin says there are hurdles to using manufactured containers, but he applauds the project.
He doesn't see the city opposing future projects that meet provincial building codes.