Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Affordable Housing

[Janet Murphy (janetmusicrn]

Affordable Housing
During development we were very invested in having affordable units (AU).
In the end 6 out of our 40 units are affordable, and we are very pleased we
were able pull it off.
There is nothing special about cohousing that helps make it affordable to
build. Market rates prevail for any type of land purchase, architects and
builders. To have affordable units the money has to come from somewhere.
In our case the other 34 units subsidized the AUs. I believe that raised
the price of our units $8-10,000 each. The city also put in quite a bit of
funding and loans.
What we have all found is that cohousing is very affordable to live in. We
all notice how much time and money we save on entertainment expenses (it's
so entertaining here!), tools, muffin tins, lawnmowers, driving, gym
equipment, taxis, patio furniture, etc. Sharing so much with one another is
both fun and economical.
Janet
Arboretum Cohousing
Madison WI


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