Cohousing in Unique Structure - Howe School, Minneapolis
From: Jennifer Ryan (jenniferryangmail.com)
Date: Wed, 25 May 2011 14:42:09 -0700 (PDT)
Several cohousing communities have been built in old buildings.  One that
seems similar to this  school building is Eastern Village in Silver Spring,
Md.  That community opened in 2006 (?) in a long-vacant U shaped office
building.  That award-winning green cohousing project has been certified by
the U.S. Green Building Council as  meeting the LEED Silver rating for
environmental performance, making one of the few residential buildings in
the U.S. to attain this rating. Lots more on their website
www.easternvillage.org.  Two other cohousing communities in the SF East Bay
were created in existing commercial structures, Swans Market and Doyle
Street, the former built in the historic 1917 Swan's (also called
Housewives) Market (www.swansway.com) and the latter in a cement testing
facility. All three of these are in mostly urban settings and each faced
significant costs associated with repurposing.  There are other examples of
building reuse in cohousing, although I am not aware of any schools that
have been used for our communities.  The Minneapolis opportunity does look
very intriguing as a cohousing site, though, of course, its feasibility is
complex question (made more so by our economic times). But here in
cohousingland, we have a track record of such development where those
looking to explore this questions can turn.  Good luck to future cohousers
in Minneapolis!

 

Jennifer Ryan

Temescal Creek Cohousing

Oakland, Calif.

 

 

 

 


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