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Shipping containers offer welcome homes in Phoenix

In this Wednesday, March 16, 2016, photo, Patrick Tupas, right, with his wife, Maria Real-Tupas, sit on the roof of their shipping container apartment, in Phoenix. In the Containers on Grand project, the apartments are designed in a way that retains the corrugated metal exteriors. Each unit is made of two containers, but inside there are no signs of the cargo hauling days. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In this Wednesday, March 16, 2016, photo, Patrick Tupas, right, with his wife, Maria Real-Tupas, sit on the roof of their shipping container apartment, in Phoenix. In the Containers on Grand project, the apartments are designed in a way that retains the corrugated metal exteriors. Each unit is made of two containers, but inside there are no signs of the cargo hauling days. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) In this Wednesday, March 16, 2016, photo, Patrick Tupas, right, with his wife, Maria Real-Tupas, sit on the roof of their shipping container apartment, in Phoenix. In the Containers on Grand project, the apartments are designed in a way that retains the corrugated metal exteriors. Each unit is made of two containers, but inside there are no signs of the cargo hauling days. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX (AP) – A stack of shipping containers sitting in a lot in an industrial section of Phoenix has some developers thinking inside the box.

The structures usually used to transport cargo have been transformed into eight apartments. Residents began moving in since January.

Scuff marks, old serial numbers and shipping company logos remain, but a look inside each unit reveals a 740-square-foot modern home. A second container development is already planned for downtown.

Housing and retail projects using the containers have popped up in recent years in Las Vegas, Detroit and Washington, D.C., as developers and cities try to cater to millennials and baby boomers seeking downtown living.

Architects say not having to build structures and frames allows for erecting homes at a faster pace.