Arizona to auction shipping containers from dismantled border barrier
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Shipping containers in Cochise County last year. Photo: Rebecca Noble/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In the market for a used shipping container? The state just happens to have some on hand, thanks to former Gov. Doug Ducey's makeshift border wall, so get ready to start your bidding.
Driving the news: The Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) will begin a two-week auction for five shipping containers that once blocked the U.S.-Mexico border near Yuma.
- ADOA is auctioning one lot of three shipping containers and two more of a single container apiece.
- Bidding for the 40-foot containers starts at $2,000 apiece, or $6,000 for three.
Catch up quick: Ducey, a Republican, put up the container wall last year.
- He agreed to take down the barriers in December 2022 after the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Arizona.
- The project cost the state about $200 million.
Zoom in: If you're not already signed up to buy from the state's surplus, you're out of luck for the start of the auction. Accounts aren't activated until seven days after they're created, which ADOA said is to prevent fraud and identity theft.
- If you didn't sign up in time, don't worry. ADOA has about 2,000 more containers, so sign up and make sure to catch the next one.
- You can also sign up now and jump in partway through the auction.
- State Surplus will put up additional containers for auction every two weeks.
Between the lines: ADOA states on its website that the containers can be converted for "housing, office, classroom and other types of occupancy use."
- Wholistic Transformation, a Tucson-based nonprofit, is using some of the containers to make tiny homes for young people who are transitioning out of foster care, USA Today reported last month.
Of note: Government entities and nonprofits can buy the containers directly from ADOA outside of auctions, and the agency has sold 230 since they became available for purchase in June, spokesperson Megan Rose told Axios Phoenix.
- The buyers have been a mix of cities, counties, state agencies, law enforcement entities, schools and school districts, and nonprofit organizations.
- ADOA isn't tracking how those containers are being used, but Rose said the department has heard anecdotally that they're primarily being used for storage.