Co-Housing

 

Georgina Patko spoke about her experience wit a development currently underway in Sooke to build a residential property.

Co-Housing was first conceived in Denmark decades ago; there are now over 150 co-housing developments in North America. The idea is designed to enable the group of initial owner/residents to determine, in concert with the architects and project manager, the design and form of the co-housing development. Such developments can be apartment-style buildings, townhouses or groups of residences. The important characteristic is that a substantial part of the development is common building space in the form of lounge, dining room, kitchen or recreational space (also guest suites). The driving force is that the residents are a community whose members are supportive of each other, and the common feature is a focus on human scale and interaction.

 

There is an existing co-housing development in Sooke and one is currently being developed in Sidney (“Ravens Crossing”).

 

Each co-housing development is unique as it is formed by its constituent members. In structure, the participants are initially the owners of the development company that will construct the property; each household owns 1 share. Upon completion, the property becomes a strata corporation and each shareholder buys their unit from the development company. The process entails a great deal of group decision-making, even down to the style of interior fittings and features.

 

Units will have different prices according to their size/characteristics (one-bedroom, two-bedroom, etc.). The development presents no particular financial advantage – the units are priced in the $400K - $700K range which is in line with market rates for Sooke waterfront.