Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing architectural design input request

[Alicia DeLashmutt (aliciadelashmutt]

Hello, this is my first post, so I hope I'm doing this correctly...

I'm helping to bring together an inclusive, diverse community in Portland,
Oregon called Our Home.  We are in the design process now and I have a
couple of questions for those of you that have either designed a cohousing
community or are living in community  Any feedback is welcome.  You can
email me directly at aliciadelashmutt [at] gmail.com if you prefer.

Thank you in advance!

1. bathrooms - the typical condo market in Portland (according to our real
estate broker)  supports a full bathroom on every level (if the unit is a
multi-level dwelling) and en-suite bathrooms for the master bedroom (with
an additional bathroom available to the other bedrooms on that level).  Is
the same approach taken typically for cohousing?  My gut reaction is that
this takes up a lot of interior real-estate and has high build-out costs
and that cohousers might be more inclined to share and perhaps have fewer
facilities, but that is not founded on any data or experience.  Do you have
thoughts around this?

2. Market value / bank appraisal.  Is it your experience that cohousing
units are priced comparably to typical condo units on the market or are a
bit higher / lower in price because of their shared spaces and set-up?  Do
bank appraisals back this?

Best,
Alicia DeLashmutt

-- 
“In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate
and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”  Charles Darwin

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