Little Box Farms Turns Vacant Crown Heights Lot into Container-Farming Facility
October 31, 2017
Little Box Farms Turns Vacant Crown Heights Lot into Container-Farming Facility
The operation can grow up to an acre's worth of produce in vertically stacked shipping containers
Photo: Little Box Farms
Your next serving of fresh greens could come from the back of a shipping container.
Tech investor Travis Ally has leased a plot of vacant land at 827 Bergen Street in Crown Heights for an urban farm concept called Little Box Farms, housed in repurposed freight containers that have been converted in growing pods.
While greenhouses and rooftop farms operate throughout the city, Little Box Farms uses the containers, which are equipped with LED lights and hydroponic technology, to cultivate microgreens, such as sprouts and baby chard, as well as larger leafy vegetables like kale. The plants are rooted in burlap sacks and placed on shelves that run the entire height of each container.
"These shipping containers can each produce an acre of farming land while using 90% less water," Ally said. "Plus we're producing as close as possible to the consumer so we can cut super fresh and organic produce, and deliver it for consumption the same day."
The urban farm is designed to scale easily—two containers are currently in operation at the site, but Ally envisions bringing in more and stacking them vertically up to five containers high. Ally procured the growing containers from two companies, Growtainer and CropBox—two players in an expanding urban farming industry.
Ally, who has invested $150,000 into launching the venture, admits it's not yet profitable due to the large start-up costs. He said he hopes the vertical concept will help him maximize revenue and beat the costs of the land he is now leasing, which is pricey relative to the economics of farming.
Little Box Farms leased the 5,400 square foot site for five years. Asking rents for the space were around $7 per square foot.
"In the future consumers will care more about how and where their food is grown and water will become more scarce," Ally said. "We don't have the transit costs because we're growing for the local market and we don't have to pay for fertilizers or fighting insects or worry about weather because we're growing organically in a controlled environment."
So far, Ally has been selling his produce to restaurants. He eventually plans to reach more consumers through stocking stores such as Whole Foods.
Peter Schubert, a leasing broker at TerraCRG, arranged the deal on behalf of the property owner, Saeed Fakir.
"There are other urban farm sites in the city but this concept was something unique and an amenity for the neighborhood," Schubert said. "On the weekends, Little Box Farms plans to host a greenmarket, which is something Crown Heights hasn't had."