Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Your bank loan

[Willie Schreurs (willie]

On Fri, 30 Aug 1996, John Major wrote:

> This strategy has been suggested to us, involves a lot less interest to pay
> off, and so has a lot of appeal  ;-)   So, Willy, what would you say is the
> downside? Those I can think of are:
> 
> - The length of the construction phase - how long since breaking ground
> at Greyrock has it taken to get your 14 families moved in? Didn't the
> phased building stretch the time out? How did folks feel about living in a
> construction zone?
> 
> - Higher overall direct construction cost - I assume that the builders had to
> do, say 5 foundations at a time, instead of 14 all at once, and therefore
> you didn't get economies of scale on labor and materials.

        Hell, we didn't do 5 foundations at a time, we did one!  It's 
taking about 6 months per building (2- to 4-plex) and we started one 
building per month.  That way the same construction crew and tradespeople 
roll from one building to the next, in succession.  I'd think that if you 
wanted to do it all at once, you'd need a huge construction crew and 
it could be a bit of a logistical nightmare.  I've heard a bit of 
grumbling about the noise and mess, but less than I thought I'd hear.  
And the kids love it!!  Of course, I haven't moved in myself yet . . .
The whole project, from the first foundation to the last move-in, looks 
as if it will take about a year and a half.  More if you count the 
underground infrastructure like water, sewage, etc.

> - Not having enough excess $$ to build the Common House until everyone
> has moved in - or did you figure out a way of financing it early in the
> game?

        The common house was the first building to go up, so I guess we 
figured a way to do it. ;-)  Actually, I think it's a legal requirement in 
our county (designed to stop unscrupulous developers from promising common 
facilities in a condo or PUD and skipping out once the residences were 
built and paid for).

        Another downside to consider is some loss of momentum in 
community development as people move in over a long period of time rather 
than all at once.  I'm not sure if that is happening at Greyrock since I 
have nothing to compare it to.


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