Cohousing-L Mailing List: Unprogrammed suites

[Beverly Jones Redekop (beverly.jones.redekop]

Hi Cohousing-L,

We programmed our community for 33 households; 15 homes are built with 18
more to be built early in the new year.  In the home prices, approximately
$75,000 to $125,000 is for the unit's share of infrastructure (similar to
what would be a lot price in a subdivision).  We have duplexes,
three-plexes, four-plexes, and five-plexes with a mixture of townhouses and
stacked flats.

It seems that one owner may be proceeding with a basement suite in his
townhouse. The suite's entrance would be through the home's backyard (20'
deep backyards).

We have a mentor cohousing community 45 minutes away (several owners from
there are involved in the development of our new cohousing community), and
I think it has several basement suites as well.

Although I've been living here for two years as a renter (waiting for my
house to be built) and one year as an owner, I haven't really lived in
cohousing as we don't have our common house yet.  Do basement suites fit
with cohousing?  What about the number of households that we programmed?
 This was a big decision in the Getting It Built workshop with Chuck -- we
deliberated between fewer homes (more expensive and more spacious) and more
homes (less expensive and less open space).

I feel worried that our vision is being undermined before it's even built.
 I'm curious about the experience in other communities.

Thank you,
Beverly

Groundswell Cohousing at Yarrow Ecovillage
Yarrow (Chilliwack), BC, Canada