COHO ECOVILLAGE, A UNIQUE COHOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN CORVALLIS

Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services has broken ground on a new and innovative 34-home housing project, CoHo Cohousing. This project is the product of an interactive design process among WNHS, SERA, a “green” architectural firm based in Portland, and the future residents.

CoHo Cohousing uses new design concepts to create an “old fashioned neighborhood” in which neighbors knew each other well, looked out for each other, and many were good friends. In cohousing, parking is kept at the periphery of the development, and play space, courtyards, and pedestrian pathways replace streets and garages.  Private homes are clustered around a community garden, park-like “green” space and a common house. The common house includes a children’s playroom, guest room, living room, recreation room and a kitchen and dining room large enough for the entire community. Residents will share in the cooking and eating of several meals in the common house each week, which helps to strengthen bonds between neighbors.

CoHo Cohousing, like many cohousing projects around the country and the world, considers environmental features in its design.  Housing is clustered to preserve a section of “green” space and the natural wetlands and the buildings are oriented for optimum active and passive solar access (for heating and light). Buildings are being designed to be more energy efficient than Oregon’s already stringent energy codes. And it is not just about the buildings; people who choose to live at CoHo agree that there is value in considering how their day-to-day living choices can reduce their impact on the earth.

Home Life, a local nonprofit that serves adults with developmental disabilities, is buying one of the homes. Check out Home Life's website for more information about the Home Life home.  And see the recent article written in the Gazette Times.

Financing affordable housing projects is always a challenge, so we‘re especially pleased with the progress we’ve made in recent months on securing needed resources. The Oregon Housing and Community Services Department is providing a low interest loan that helped purchase the property and is helping pay for the final stages of design. The City of Corvallis has committed funds to be used as a construction loan, as special financing needed by income eligible families to buy some of the homes, and as a grant to Home Life for their home purchase. Additional grant support has been received from NeighborWorks® America. WNHS is offering special financing packages making 30% to 50% of the homes available for purchase by households earning 80% or less than the area’s median income.

Project design is essentially done. Members of CoHo are working hard with SERA Architects to finalize design details for the homes, common house, and landscaping. Balancing cost and environmental sustainability is an ongoing challenge, but our professional team and CoHo members are meeting that challenge with creativity. Check out drawings of the homes and common house on the website. While many of the 34 homes are spoken for, there are still some available for sale.

If you are interested in getting more information about special financing for income eligible households, contact the staff of the WNHS Homeownership Center and plan to attend one of our Home Buyer Education classes.

To learn more about CoHo, you can attend one of their social events or introductory meetings. Times and locations are available at CoHo’s website or you can call Anne Arquette at 541-974-1739 (see contact info below).

For more information on cohousing contact:
Anne Arquette
541.974.1739
info@cohousing-corvallis.com
www.cohousing-corvallis.com
www.cohousing.org

For more information about Home Life contact:
Dave Zaback
541.753.9015
zaback@peak.org
www.homelifeinc.org

For more information about Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services contact:
Jim Moorefield
541.752.7220
Jim.Moorefield@w-nhs.org