Shipping containers continue to proliferate as an affordable building material. The latest addition is a new restaurant near the corner of U Street and Vermont Avenue, NW, called El Rey taqueria.

El Rey taqueria on U Street. Photo by BeyondDC.

In this case, El Rey owner Ian Hilton says it wasn’t actually cheaper to build using shipping containers. But that could be due to El Rey’s particular layout or needs. It’s hard to know for sure.

Elsewhere in the region, shipping containers are used or will be used at Half Street Fairgrounds near the baseball stadium, and possibly in Tysons Corner.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

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Tagged: dc, public spaces, temporary urbanism, u street

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.