Meeting summary - March 30

A good group of folks gathered at Breakthrough on Sunday to continue our discussion of what this intentional community will look like.

Jeff (our developer) and Jose made a 3D animation presentation of what the layout of one 15-unit floor would look like. The visuals will be available online soon. We envision a mix of studio (640 sq ft), 1, 2, 3 and 3+ bedroom units.

One of the most interesting pieces of information that I got from this part of the presentation is that once we have reached critical mass of folks that want to purchase 20 units total, we will go on a retreat with the architect who is the leading expert in co-housing and determine what design aspects to include that encourage community-building.

We also clarified that although we will have much more input in the early stages of development of this project, financially, our risk will be minimal and the same as any other condo development, since our earnest money will be put in escrow until the units are actually delivered.

Profit for the developer will be factored in to the costs of the units with the intent that this profit will be re-invested in the Josiah 501c3 Learning Community that will occupy the first and second floors.

In terms of a timeline, we'll need signed contracts for 20 units in the next three months to convince the company financing the development that we're serious. We expect the units to be ready in Fall of 2009.

Tentative per unit costs were proposed with the understanding that they are, in fact, tentative. They range from $150 a square foot to $175 a square foot. Assessment fees (which are predicted to be smaller than average) and taxes would be additional. Jeff noted that if down payments were a problem for some buyers, we had access to several programs for help with that.

As a group, we encouraged Jeff to firm up the numbers since that will be THE deciding factor for many folks on whether or not this is a feasible opportunity.

At the very end of the meeting, as I had to leave, several people wanted to talk more about the aspects of community living that we're planning. I proposed that we make that a major agenda item for our next meeting, which will be April 20 at 2:00. However, we can start that conversation here to create a more detailed agenda for the next meeting.

If you have anything to add to this summary (I'm working from memory) or would like to use it as a jumping off point for further discussion, either comment below or send me an email (link on the sidebar) and I'll start a fresh post dedicated to that topic.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, especially the new folks and a couple of guys from Indianapolis. Woohoo!

-Rebecca