(November 17, 2022) Big things are being planned for small houses in Bagdad.
The company-owned town of Bagdad already is experiencing a housing crunch that only will get worse in the next few years if plans to expand mining operations advance. Its remote location and limited footprint pose challenges for finding places to house people.
Part of the solution: Adding 176 fold-out modular homes that can be stacked two high to create a near instant garden-style apartment complex. The units are sold and installed by a Nevada company called Boxabl. Each home arrives folded into a compact, 8-foot-wide package and quickly springs up into a 375-square-foot studio unit with a nearly 10-foot ceiling.
“When you’re inside, it feels pretty spacious,” said Michael Hulse, Engineering Services Manager-Bagdad. “It’s a nice studio unit.”
The Boxabl Casitas come complete with a kitchen, bathroom, air conditioning and even some luxurious touches like high ceilings and a backlit mirror. The homes will be available to full-time employees at a rental rate of $275 per month plus charges for electricity and trash service.
The units are ideal for single workers who just need a small, efficient place to live while they work at the mine. Some workers with spouses could make do with the units until bigger places become available in Bagdad. Others might opt to live in the units during the workweek and maintain permanent homes in nearby communities.
The bottom line is that the nifty little units are a quick and inexpensive way for the company to provide housing for many existing workers and prepare for the influx of 600 additional employees who would be needed for an eventual mine expansion, Hulse said.
Staffing impacted by lack of housing
“Many people have declined employment offers at Bagdad operations, due to the lack of available housing,” Hulse said. “We are unable to get and keep people, because they get burned out on the commute if they don’t have a place to stay. Our business is impacted by our inability to attract people to come stay and work in Bagdad.
“These units address the need for the majority of housing applicants who are single people who we need to staff our business today. It stabilizes our business today so that we’re not starting in a deficit with our plans for the future.”
Housing in Bagdad has been a challenge for a long time. The town is more than an hour’s drive from Wickenburg and Prescott, the two closest communities where workers can live. Housing in both of those municipalities is expensive and scarce.
Building houses in Bagdad also is expensive because of its remoteness. Construction companies charge a premium to do the work. Freeport recently replaced several houses destroyed in the Spur Fire last year at a cost of about $400,000 per unit, Hulse said. Building a traditional wood and stucco apartment complex with 176 comparable homes would cost about $200,000 per unit. The cost of the Boxabl units is about $115,000 each, including installation and utilities.
Bagdad has about 800 existing homes – a mix of houses, duplexes and a couple of recreational vehicle parks – to accommodate its 1,000 employees and their families. Many of those units are three-bedroom homes.
There also is a waiting list of 122 people who can expect to wait up to 18 months to qualify for one of the company homes. Of those on the list, 85 are single individuals who only would qualify for a one-bedroom or studio similar to a Boxabl unit.
Bagdad expansion would require more housing
A decision is expected next year on whether to go ahead with plans to expand the Bagdad mine to effectively double output. If that is approved, it would require about 600 additional employees by 2027.
The 176 units would not provide housing for all the new people who would be associated with the mine expansion. Plans for additional housing are in the works, and the company would add shuttle buses to Wickenburg and Prescott to ferry workers to and from the site.
The first Boxabl model home opened in October. The goal is to have the first 48 Boxabl units open and ready for occupancy in January and the entire complex completed by June 2023. A site-produced video describing the complex can be viewed here.
If successful, there is potential for the units to help alleviate housing shortages in other company sites like Climax and Morenci, Hulse said.