Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: percentage of members to build

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

How many buy-ins does it take to build? There is no universal number. It 
depends on how you are proceeding, so others can respond regarding up-front 
building, and work with developers. Just for contrast, RoseWind Cohousing in 
Port Townsend WA was what's called a "lot-development" model. Buy-in cost (20+ 
years ago it was about $36K) went in about equal thirds to land purchase, 
infrastructure we were required to install (to convert pasture land  into City 
roads, parking, drainage, sewer, water, power, etc.), and our common house. 

The cost, design, timing, and construction of homes was up to the individual 
households. Once you were bought in, you had a designated lot on which to 
eventually build, and RoseWind had its development money. 

Had we had 24 households ready to buy in, we could have proceeded with land 
purchase, redesign work with the City (to make a Planned Unit Development in 
place of the gridded platting already in place), installation of 
infrastructure, and building our Common House. Instead, we grew gradually from 
3 households to 24, using the first income to buy the land, then the next for 
infrastructure, then the Common House. 

The advantage was mainly that otherwise we simply didn't have the capital, and 
couldn't have done it at all. We did it with no financing, no developers, very 
minimal professional help. Which took extra years, but it worked. Working  
together on the development phases, we were also building social community. 
Some of us were already living here by the time we built the Common House, but 
that meant that we were volunteering to help build and finish it, day by day-- 
another joint venture and another way we invested our time, energy and 
creativity into the construction.

Twenty seven years in, we  have long been fully-built, with a beautifully hand 
crafted Common House that is well used, and a solid community. Many of the 
early members are still here. 

If you have enough capital, I encourage you to explore fast-track modes--- 
Chuck and Katie are now speeding competently through the development of the new 
Quimper Village in our town and it looks like it will be very successful. I 
share the RoseWind experience, however, as an example of how creative planning 
and persistence can also succeed: our cohousing turned out to be wonderful and 
worth the extra years it took to get here.

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau, see our updated website at
www.rosewind.org