Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: PODs - SHARED HOUSES IN COHOUSING

[Becky Weaver (beckyweaver]

We (Central Austin Cohousing in Austin, Texas) were
very interested in the "pod" (shared house) idea.

When we brought it up with builders, banks, and
developers, it became clear that any units like this
would need to be financed quite creatively. Because
they'd look different from a standard" house or
apartment, banks were not keen on financing either the
construction or the mortgage. They had big concerns
about being unable to sell such an unusual building in
the case of forclosure. 

Depending on what the residents wanted, it did not
look like it was going to be a particularly
inexpensive option for us. Such a building would
likely be a one-off (or maybe two-off). So all costs
for design of that unit type would need to be borne by
that one unit. (This is only relevant in a
multifamily-type development where some economy is
obtained by repeating unit types. In a lot development
community, where every unit is unique, it would not
increase the relative cost for a "pod" unit.)

Ownership was also a question - would it be as
tenants-in-common? A cooperative? One owner and a
number of renters? 

Our research led me to believe that it could
*certainly* be done. However, it is clear to me that
it requires a champion - someone who is able and
willing to put a couple of years (at least) into
learning the ins and outs of construction financing
and real estate, condo, cooperative legal/contract
issues, and putting together a workable plan for how
such a building would be financed and
sold/owned/rented. You might need to find someone who
believes enough in the concept to finance the whole
thing, much like those early cohousing communities
that had to be owner-financed because no bank would
lend money for such a novel idea. Also, someone will
need to put together a viable pool of potential
residents. 

On top of the challenges involved in developing a
"normal" cohousing community, Central Austin Cohousing
regretfully decided not to expend the additional
energy and money required to do pods as well. 

I believe that purpose-built pod units are
rare-to-nonexistent in cohousing solely because of
this initial financing/cost hurdle. Has anybody heard
of any of these actually geting built? 

They're talked about a lot and sound like they would
be very popular once built, if they were actually more
affordable than a small apartment or renting a room. 

The homes I've heard of that function with multiple
unrelated residents living cooperatively tend to be
larger, single-family houses instead of a house built
for that purpose. 

Beyond that, I think the other questions Jamileh
brought up have a wide variety of workable solutions.
I do not think that a "community within a community"
is anything to be concerned about. It sounds rather
like a "large family" to me, and may be best
considered in that context.  

Becky Weaver
Kaleidoscope Village
Austin, Texas


> On 8/6/07, Linda Gluck <treehouse [at] netstep.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > Dear All,
> > We are considering creating a shared house among
> the duplexes and
> > singles of our cohousing community. It would be
> shared by 4 or 5
> > residents, and owned together as a partnership.
> Each person would
> > have 2 rms + bath, with common space for all.


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