Affordable housing

Dallas-Fort Worth constructs plan for first neighborhood of shipping-container homes in U.S.

Plans for the Cotton Groves community.

Photo courtesy of CandysDirt.com

Repurposing shipping containers into buildings, so-called cargotecture, isn’t a new concept, but it’s groundbreaking for Habitat for Humanity of Collin County, which hopes to build 35 affordable homes in Cotton Groves, the nation’s first residential neighborhood built entirely from upcycled steel containers.

Habitat affiliates in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Ohio have explored building affordable housing from shipping containers. Collin County’s Habitat CEO, Celeste Cox, says the first model townhouse should be ready by the end of October or mid-November.

When complete next year, the Cotton Groves neighborhood will contain 35 shipping container homes, a community center, and a playground on the 2.75-acre plot near McKinney’s small airport on the east side of town. But first, Habitat must raise the $4.5 million during an upcoming capital campaign needed to fund the complete development.

So how do you transform a utilitarian box of steel into a cozy abode? Architecture, landscaping, and some great ingenuity.

Cotton Groves will contain several different model homes including three- and four-bedroom plans. To make these shipping container homes as affordable and low maintenance as possible, the homes will have solar panels on the roof that help keep energy costs low. The exterior walls will use fiber cement siding and reclaimed wood for balcony fascia, as well as a thin stone veneer for some walls, as Cotton Groves plans show.

Constructing a three-bedroom model is like building with life-size Lego bricks. Four 8- by 40-foot shipping containers will be used to construct 1,280 square feet, arranged in different configurations for different floor plans. It takes approximately six to eight weeks to construct this re-imagined version of a modular home.

Covered carports that can accommodate two cars will be attached to the length-ways side of the townhouse. Above the carport, a 36-inch-high metal railing will surround the top of the carport, creating a full-length patio on the home’s second story, though some models will share a patio railing with the home across from it.

The cantilever roof has a low slope to aid rainfall drainage on these otherwise flat-looking roofs, and provides some protection from the elements.

In June, Habitat for Humanity of Collin County received an $877,521 grant from the McKinney Community Development Corp. to complete engineering designs; construct roadways; and lay water, sewer and utility lines for the largely undeveloped land. The McKinney Community Development Corporation was formed in 1998 when taxpayers agreed to a half-cent sales tax to be used to enhance McKinney’s amenities and is lead by seven city council-appointed McKinney residents.

The new neighborhood is located on 2.75 acres in east McKinney, near State Highway 5/S. McDonald Street and Eldorado Parkway/Industrial Boulevard, situated northwest of McKinney National Airport (TKI). What was formerly McKinney’s municipal airport is now known as a general aviation reliever airport that handles business and personal aviation travel, though no scheduled commercial passenger flights fly from McKinney.

Habitat will sell the homes to qualified, low-income residents at 30 percent of their gross monthly income. Appraisals will determine the market value of these newly constructed homes, so an estimate for the cost is not yet available, Cox says.

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A version of this story originally was published on CandysDirt.com.

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New money

Texas Stock Exchange launches trading on 'Y'all Street' in Dallas

Photo by Oren Elbaz on Unsplash

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Two-step aside, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange, nicknamed Y’all Street, just kicked off live trading with five stocks for now — and with lots of Lone Star ambition.

“The Texas Stock Exchange aims to revitalize competition for [stock] issuers, establish the premier venue for listings, and create a world-class trading platform for all market participants,” the exchange says in a fact sheet.

The exchange — whose Texas-influenced nickname is a nod to New York City’s Wall Street — has collected at least $275 million in investments. The roughly 90 financial backers of TXSE include Bank of America, BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Dell Family Office, Fortress, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase.

Representatives of TXSE couldn’t be reached for comment. On its website, the exchange calls itself “the most well-capitalized equities exchange to ever be approved” by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Not to be outdone, NYSE has launched Dallas-based NYSE Texas and Nasdaq has expanded its presence in Dallas.

Y’all Street adds to Dallas-Fort Worth’s rising status as a major hub for financial services, with The Wall Street Journal naming North Texas the country’s second biggest financial hub after New York City. Among the biggest DFW players in financial services are:

Financial services provider Charles Schwab
Banking company Comerica
Auto lender Santander Consumer USA
Banking company Texas Capital Bancshares
Lender GM Financial
Investment bank Goldman Sachs
Financial services provider Fidelity
Banking conglomerate JPMorgan Chase
Megabank Wells Fargo

“A homegrown national exchange means more jobs, more investment, and more growth opportunities for businesses and communities across the Lone Star State,” Gabriela von zur Muehlen, senior vice president and chief policy officer at the Texas Association of Business, told The Texas Tribune.

In a move that will further elevate DFW’s status as a financial powerhouse, Goldman Sachs is building an 800,000-square-foot corporate campus near the American Airlines Center. The campus, with an initial price tag of $500 million, will be able to accommodate more than 5,000 employees when it opens in 2028; it’ll be Goldman Sachs’ largest office outside New York City.

Driven by DFW, the financial services sector now plays a massive role in Texas’ status as the Financial Capital of America, as declared by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Bulent Temel, an associate professor of practice in economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told Texas Standard that TXSE “is going to boost the credibility of the Texas economy.”

Texas’ estimated gross domestic product (GDP), a yardstick for the size of an economy, climbed to a record-setting $2.9 trillion in 2025, making it the state with the second highest GDP after California. DFW’s estimated GDP in 2023 stood at $744.6 billion, eclipsing the GDP of many countries.

“The center of gravity for American capitalism is now headquartered in the Boom Belt,” Abbott proclaimed in April, referring to an 11-state region (including Texas) in the South and Southeast that’s seeing tremendous economic and population growth. “The Texas Stock Exchange is the natural extension of that capitalism. It ensures that capital markets will reflect the quadrant that is driving American growth.”

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