Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 34, Issue 36

[Dave and Diane (daveanddee]

Shari et al:

Our group, Jamaica Plain Cohousing of Boston, Mass., self-developed, 
used the project manager-general-contractor-architect team model and 
was completed in 2005. Originally we were advised to avoid the "heroic" 
model of self-development and, consequently, spent two years searching 
for appropriate partners. In the end we were not able to find an able 
and willing developer partner in Massachusetts, and ended up doing 
self-development anyway. Diffused responsibility and the consensus 
decision-making process certainly increased the project length and 
contributed to a number of design problems. Having a developer partner 
ride herd on us might have shortened the project, but design problems 
occur no matter what the team. All in all, the big difference would 
have been less time robbed from our lives (10 years for me) and less 
frustration.

Dave Nathan
JP Cohousing

On Thursday, November 30, 2006, at 10:55 AM, 
cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:
>

> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:00:27 -0500
> From: "sredies1 [at] rochester.rr.com" <sredies1 [at] rochester.rr.com>
> Subject: [C-L]_ development questions--again
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Message-ID: <380-220061143013027802 [at] M2W005.mail2web.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Hello all,
>
> I am part of the forming Rochester Group and have been reading 
> archives and
> asking individuals (cohousing and local planners/architects) many 
> questions
> about the development process.  Here is a question that I would 
> appreciate
> hearing thoughts on:  One cohousing group I spoke with is using a
> development model that includes a project manager, general contractor, 
> and
> architect as their primary development team.  Is this approach the 
> same as
> what is typically called "self-development"? Or would this type of team
> have enough professional expertise to avoid the pitfalls of
> self-development that have been described on this list.  From what I
> understand, this type of model can be less expensive than having the 
> usual
> partnership with a developer.
>
> Our group understands the value of having experienced professionals 
> who can
> oversee the project (help keep it in budget), permitting, and handle 
> many
> of the development type decisions/tasks, etc.  Can a project manager/GC
> handle this as capably as a developer?
>
> Thanks for your patience in answering yet another development question.
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> Shari Rediess
> Rochester NY