Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Motels and Cohousing

[King Collins (greenmac]

Mike M said:

>Some cohousers (in Arcata, CA, right?) *are* converting a truckstop or a
>motel or something and already renovated the main building. How's my memory?
> Hope those folks reply to Kings' post.

I know of the folks at Marsh Commons, Arcata. I hope to see their setup
sometime soon. I believe they have converted a warehouse which is a very
interesting practice, too, especially in the middle of big cities.

It would be interesting to know of others who are converting motels.

It would be cool if we could get info on motels for sale in different
areas. I have a soft spot for the midwest (though I really do enjoy
Northern California where I live). Frankly, I expect to see a sudden
increase in interest in coopertive housing (It seems to have started
already.) and my hunch is that a lot of it will be innovative conversions
of existing facilities. Motels  have some very obvious advantages: For one
thing, they are already multiple units and zoned appropriately.

>BTW, a few of us in Boulder entertained converting an apartment court which
>had been a motel many years ago.  The conversion scenario was to combine two
>or three tiny units, then add a story above the existing units.  Never
>happened, but an interesting exercise in creative thinking.  The luscious
>location prompted us to consider it.  The land costs deterred us.

This would not be a problem everywhere.

>The challenge of converting almost any existing structure to cohousing can
>stimulate the imagination.  I highly recommend it for the benefit of the
>planet as well as an exercise for human ingenuity.
>
>Personally, I *would* seriously consider converting a motel.  A few ideas
>checking into my wayward mind:
>
>-  Perhaps motels in small towns bypassed by an interstate would be
>inexpensive and farther away from the highway noise.

Right on! See note below

>-  With a typical motel on a typical motor slum boulevard, you'd probably
>want to purchase adjacent property  to control what kind of neighbors you'd
>have.  Also, if the motel buildings were built up against the property lines,
>you'd want land behind them to use for parking outside the typical oval or
>"U" shape.
>
>-  Some motel offices might make a good common house starter.  Close to ideal
>if there was a restaurant included!

>-  You could remodel the motel one wing at a time.  Cohousers could live
>temporarily in the wings not under construction.

This approach could work for those who have more labor and skills than
money. And it sounds like fun. Here the energy would be expressed more
immediately in the practice of construction trades, especially if some good
modular designs are available.

>-  The front part of the motel might be used for office/commercial space --
>where the traffic noise wouldn't be so intrusive.

Excellent point. A motel can include a commercial venture or ventures. I do
know of a case in MIami, Florida where a few tradespeople and entreprenuers
converted a motel to a series of shops.

I like the idea of combining residences and small businesses. Some of the
businesses will naturally be cooperatives. We need to find ways to combine
money-making businesses in our cohousing designs, business that provide
income to those who need it. So that all those whose hearts are with us can
also *be* with us.

>Trouble is the motel business is too
>lucrative here in Boulder, CO.  Have to check out other places in the
>vicinity.  Out on the eastern plains they'd be cheap, I'll bet.

It's a trusism that small farms and their communities are dying in many
parts of the country. This must leave lots of cheap real estate, the new
frontier. Sooner or later we must return. (as a generation, as a society)
to reclaim what was abandoned. And someday, not to  faraway I hope, we
should be able to travel easily, without great cost, among these New
American Villages.

Thanks for the response, Mike. I apprreciate your creative effort!

king


Greenmac
296 Gardens Ave.
Ukiah, CA 95482
Voice: (707) 462-4543
   Fax: (707) 462-6873
   Net: greenmac [at] pacific.net