Cohousing-L Mailing List: self development

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

>>At present we are grappling with the decision as to whether we want to
>>self-develop or hire a developer (e.g. Wonderland).
>>
>>We would appreciate words of wisdom from those of you who have engaged in
>>this process, your experiences with the pros and cons of the two options,
>>etc.

There are numerous advantages to working with the right sort of 
developer. In an urban area, it may well be essential. Many examples are 
given by others of what professionals can contribute.

But it's not the only model that can work.
RoseWind Cohousing in Port Townsend Washington is lot-development, 
self-developed, 24 home sites on 9 acres, in a town of 8000. We used the 
Planned-Unit-Development option, in replatting city land to our own site 
plan. 

Working with a developer requires capital we did not have. In effect, we 
traded time for money. Yes, it did take about ten years (first land 
purchase to majority of homes built and occupied), but we did it in our 
"spare" (ha) time, incurred no debt, and spent out of buy-in money as 
membership grew. And all during that time we were building community, 
learning and working together on this. 

One writer says:I've heard that the typical pattern for self-developed 
cohousing 
>communities is that it takes 10 years to get to completed construction and 
>usually few of the original members are left by then.
Of original owners of our home sites, over the past 13 years, 2 elderly 
members died and those homes got new owners, 2 other houses were resold, 
and 2 lots were re-sold before being built. The great majority of our 24 
units have only had one owner. Most of the earliest members are still 
here. Though our once-young children are now heading for college. (If you 
want cohousing for your own young children, use a developer, or better 
yet, join a built community!)

>What we intend to do is this:  If we attract people with developer skills we
>will do ourselves which means about 15% cheaper.

This is not as simple as you make it sound. You may be assuming that 
those skilled people will donate their skills for free or at a reduced 
price. And (this is really tricky) that it won't be a can of worms to 
have your "pros" in house. Especially if they are paid. We did it 
ourselves, but the 6 or so of us who did most of the first-years' work 
did it pretty equally, and even then, on a few occasions when we paid a 
member for a task it raised some sensitivities among some other members. 
Yes, some groups have skillfully navigated this route, but it's a course 
to be steered with care. 

Is it cheaper? Yes, on the side of not paying for professional expertise, 
not needing to generate a profit for anyone. But errors can also be 
costly, and the mere passage of time sees a rise in the cost of building 
materials, taxes that need to be paid on unsold units, and other costs of 
delays. So, maybe, but not for sure. 

I've had a lot of old cars. Because I didn't have enough money to buy a 
better car outright, I paid for repair after repair. The total expense 
may have been a wash, but I could manage the incremental approach. 
Similar.

Bottom line: 
In a small town or rural area, a dedicated band of amateurs can succeed, 
incrementally, over time, with no project financing and little 
professional assistance, simply accomplishing steps as the money and 
volunteer time become available. It need not entail everyone leaving, 
horrid design decisions, or the failure of the project! It may even end 
you up with what we have in Port Townsend: 24 families (some of us, it is 
true, having learned more about city planning than we are ever likely to 
need to know again), an attractive functioning common house, decent 
meeting process, and low turnover. 

Speaking of which, one member did move off to where she could have 
acreage and horses, leaving her handsome big custom house up for resale. 
$299K. And 13 years of meetings already handled : you just get to hop on 
the wagon!



Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com

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