Owning units in cohousing communities as tenants - affordable ideas?
From: Rod Lambert (rodecovillage.ithaca.ny.us)
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:03:00 -0800 (PST)
Tom,
re affordable construction incorporating green design:
Having done development management and design for a couple of ecovillages in New York state I can show 2 & 3 bedroom detached models (900sf and 1200sf) that are professionally estimated to come in at approx 120k and 150k respectively including all common costs (40k). Obviously common costs could be larger for other groups and those prices do not allow for much "feature creep".
Construction has just begun.
Here at Ecovillage at Ithaca we are planning the 3rd nbhd (for 2009) in which it is hoped to create some housing for farmers etc but have not yet settled on how it will be done. We do intend to build a "plex" of semi-private suites for seniors which should be very affordable. I don't have a design yet - planning just beginning.

Good luck with your work,
Rod Lambert
For
Village Green Development
EcoVillage at Ithaca, NY

Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:35:47 -0800 (PST)
From: tom shea <sheamuson [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Owning units in cohousing communities as tenants
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Message-ID: <370123.22105.qm [at] web32509.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I have been researching how to start up a cohousing community and share this concern of high prices. I think the general consensus out there is that living in cohousing can reduce day to day cost of living expenses. But I cannot move on from the fact that if a person can afford a $200,000+ home as well as monthly dues associated with the particular community than that person may not need assistance with day to day expenses. I realize this is a very broad generalization and every persons situation is different and needs to be respected. My underlying questions are: Can a cohousing community be constructed and structured such that the purchase price for say a 2 or 3 bedroom home is under $200,000 while including some principles of green design? Can people without the means to purchase expensive homes be included in the community without using HUD $? Does anyone have experience structuring parts of a community for people who posses unique skills (farmers for example) to move in first as a renter (to units built by the financier) then paying for the unit overtime with "sweat equity" with the goal of becoming a full owner at some point?

Thanks

Tom Shea
Green Haven (to be built in VT)
802-917-1525



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