Re: Eugene, Oregon
From: Raines Cohen (rc3-coho-Lraines.com)
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:31:43 -0700 (PDT)
On Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Martin Henner <mhenner [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> Report from Eugene Downtown Cohousing.  We have had our trials this
> year.
> - - First our contractor went bankrupt - luckily before we had started
> construction or paid any money.

Ouch, but also congratulations on not losing the whole project. Similar
challenges have led to the complete failure of some cohousing developments.

- - The delay in getting a new contractor, set our timetable back as
> some zoning exemptions then expired.  But we got them approved all
> over again.

Cool. Since you are self-developing a downtown project in a small
progressive college town, can you say more about the nature of the
exemptions: density bonuses? Change in use? How hard was the process, both
the first time and in renewal? Any opposition from neighbors or
conservationists or others?

> Now our bank says they are out of money for the time being.

This seems to be universal at the moment, alas.

> But
> we seem to have another that has money and likes cohousing.

Excellent. How did you find 'em? (or did they find you?) Are they offering
the same terms on a construction loan?

> BUT our new bank is demanding that we have 65% of our units pre-sold
> prior to funding the loan.

How many units will there be in the project, and what percent are already
pre-sold? What level of commitment/investment does membership entail right
now? How many FORMER members are there, and how do they feel about the
group? (you'd be amazed at the

> SO - if you know anyone interested in urban cohousing in Eugene,
> Oregon, send them our way.

I can think of some potential prospects (particularly from here in Northern
California, where a lot of folks end up in Oregon or Washington, for price
or other reasons), but beyond Location, Location, Location, who will be
interested depends a lot on:

- What is the projected timing of the project now?
- How will the prices compare to the surrounding market? What happens if
construction costs increase or the market goes down around you?
- Who is in the group now? What's the mix of kids and elders?
- What are the amenities and shared elements?

While your website has been freshened up since last I saw it, it still is
kind of abstract, with no info about the people of the project (either
pictures or profiles), and no clear path to engagement other than coming to
an intro meeting. There's no specific meeting dates listed, no call to
action, no sense of urgency, no way to directly "act now" or get engaged
with a single click.

There are also some great ways you can help empower everybody in the group
to reach out through their social networks more effectively to get the key
message across to groups and demographics that are already proven to have
interest in that form of community (cohousing) at that location.

>From my experience at Swan's Market Cohousing, downtown in Oakland, CA, as a
member a decade ago during development, we found that families with kids
joined the group late in the process. Who wants to live in downtown Eugene
(and can afford it): U of O professors? Businesspeople? Young hipsters with
a trust fund? Retirees looking to downsize? This kind of market research can
help you focus your message and craft communications to best reach these
particular target audiences.

It doesn't look like you're taking advantage of the Coho/US website for
outreach; I've gotten significant traffic for East Bay Cohousing this month,
leading to people signing up and coming to events, through a featured
classified that appears on all pages (I'll be trying something different
next month, experimenting with a message tuned to the demographics Exec
Director Craig Ragland shared at the national cohousing conference near
Boston in June: people who come to the website are mostly over 50). You can
also do e-mail broadcasts through the Association (to a list that has, last
I checked, surprisingly little overlap with Cohousing-L, and you can target
by geography or other factors).

Given the overall project budget, spending a few hundred bucks at critical
times like these on implementing a coordinated marketing strategy could make
all the difference. Let me know if you'd like some help with this; the first
half hour of cohousing coaching is free, and I may be passing through town
later this month.

Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
http://www.CohousingCoach.com/
at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing

Regional Organizer, Northern California Cohousing

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