Woolsey Corner

Now For Sale! More information available at Proud Ground's website.

This project, located at the intersection of N. Trenton and N. Woolsey in New Columbia, has been designed from the ground up as a ‘cohousing’ development to foster community among residents. The homes will be owned as condominiums and will be made permanently affordable to households with incomes at or below 80% of median family income in partnership with Proud Ground, a local community land trust, using funding from the Portland Development Commission. Construction began in Feb. 2010 and will we'll be ready for folks to move in by late 2010 or early 2011.

This project's community-oriented design approach, including commonly owned interior and exterior spaces, will help low and moderate income homeowners save scarce money and time by making it easier to share resources with one another.

Green Features:

• Salvaged musical instruments in exterior railings
• 'Live edge' maple interior window sills
• Ductless mini-split heating system
• Solar hot water for all units
• FSC certified stranded bamboo flooring
• Durable plywood cabinets with 18"x18" large format porcelain tile countertops
• Preservation of existing mature silver maple tree
• All Energy Star appliances
• Shared community living room, guest quarters, laundry and bike storage
• Green roof on trash/recycling enclosure building
• Located immediately next to large "Seeds of Harmony" community garden
• Insulation well beyond code: R-30 walls; R-60 ceilings
• Triple pane windows (u=.21)
• Rainscreen siding system
• Energy Recovery Ventilators for each unit
• Low flow shower heads and faucets
• Native and drought resistant plantings
• Approximately 39% of construction by Minority-owned, Women-owned, and/or Emerging Small Businesses (16% of construction by Minority-owned firms)

Role: Developer and General Contractor.

Ruth's Garden Cottages

In late July 2008, we built two garden cottages to the side of a little house at the rear of a 50'x100' residential lot in NE Portland. These tiny homes are "detached accessory structures" and are fully permitted through the City of Portland. Each is 12'x14' and has a front porch, bathroom with shower, and loft.

The existing house is quite small - just 526sf on the main level with a 200sf bedroom in the attic and a full basement. All residents can share the kitchen in the primary house. Most importantly, this development plan preserves the entire front 55' of the property for gardening and fruit trees!

Role: Developer and General Contractor.

Peninsula Park Commons - New Construction

New Unit Amenities

• In-floor radiant heat, tankless water heaters, and rooftop solar thermal systems for each unit
• Cedar trellises and custom bicycle art at gable ends, exterior entry stairs, and over exterior windows
• EnergyStar rated homes with advanced framing, ‘polar blanket’ wall insulation and R-49 attic cellulose insulation
• Fir entry doors; rain-screen siding system; alder cabinets with plywood boxes; porcelain tile countertops, tub/shower surrounds and bathroom floors; hardwood or tile flooring; Schlage door hardware
• Fiberglass windows
• Low-VOC interior paint
• Extensive use of salvaged materials (courtyard bricks, sun room windows…)
• Maple ‘live edge’ interior trim from 100+ year old tree that fell down in Officer’s Row (Vancouver, WA)
• Units 9 and 10 have master bedroom sun decks, attic storage, and are pre-wired for PV electricity
• Unit 8 includes a solid milled wood bar countertop with live edge and built-in overhead storage cabinets.

Common Interior Amenities (available to all residents)

• Common area studio unit with full sized kitchen, living/dining room and bathroom; furnished for movie viewing, dinner parties, guest accommodations and lending library
• Common space in ground floor of new west building includes: 22’x20’ interior bike storage room, half bath, and recreation room adjacent to the north courtyard designed for indoor/outdoor gatherings, play space protected from the weather, and whatever else we want to use it for
• Basement laundry room with two sets of washers/dryers; craft, workshop, and storage space
• Wireless DSL service

Common Exterior Amenities (available to all residents)

• Landscaped south courtyard with vegetable and flower gardens, outdoor gathering areas, and edible landscaping (berries, fruit trees…)
• Circular north courtyard with artistic brick pavers, a semicircular seating porch, and adjoining indoor/outdoor common space.
• Exterior bike racks

Location

• Across the street from Peninsula Park, which contains a community center, game room, playing fields, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, wading pool, covered picnic area, and Portland's original rose garden
• Transportation: On the high-frequency #4 bus line with a stop right across the street; 1/3 mile to Interstate light rail stop and Interstate 5.on/off ramps
• Within 1/2 mile of: New Seasons, Portland Community College's Cascade campus, the Multnomah County North Portland library, and Jefferson Highschool

Role: Developer, General Contractor

Sabin Green

This mini co-housing community consists of 4 homes on each corner of a 75' x 100' lot. On the south side of the lot is an existing house with detached garage that was converted into an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). On the north side of the lot, a new house and detached ADU were constructed. Each unit is owned as a condominium, and all four homes share a common circular courtyard. On the north edge of the courtyard is a shell-shaped tea house, built with straw-clay construction and cob as part of the Village Building Convergence. It has a green roof that provides a beautiful and cozy interior/exterior space for residents to share.

Extensive green building materials were used in this development, including salvaged framing lumber for interior trim, salvaged windows from The Rebuilding Center, salvaged bricks and tile fragments for the circular patios, a bike storage shed with green roof built entirely from job-site waste materialserials, fiberglass windows (instead of vinyl), FSC certified framing lumber and engineered oak flooring, EnergyStar appliances, no-VOC interior paint, and no carpet anywhere.

Green building systems incorporated into this development include:

• Tankless hot water systems that provide both domestic hot water and in-floor radiant heat
• Rooftop solar PV
• Rooftop solar water pre-heat
• Passive radon vent system allows under-slab gases to vent out the roof
• Advanced framing (walls framed at 24” o.c., lifted trusses for additional insulation…)
• Solar vent attic fan
• 4 fruit trees included in the site landscaping, with additional space available for gardening
• Insulation at or above Energy Star standards

Role: Developer, General Contractor

Corvallis Cohousing

This cohousing community, called "Coho", was developed in partnership between local Corvallis residents and Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services. Located on a 6 acre parcel, Coho is a community of 34 homes with a large common house where residents share meals on a regular basis and meet to plan, play and party. This mixed income community includes 8 homes for low or moderate buyers including one 4-BR unit for residents with developmental disabilities. Financing included funds from Oregon Housing and Community Services, subsidized land from Benton County, HOME funds from Corvallis, and Neighborworks. Construction was completed in late 2007 and all units sold within 2 months.

Role: Project manager for finance as HDC staff

Peninsula Park Commons - Renovation

Over five years ago, a group of folks first got together in a living room in North Portland and talked about what it would be like to have a shared housing situation where everyone had his or her own space but access to common outdoor and indoor spaces and amenities. We wanted the best of co-housing--fun, community, low-impact living, and shared resources—combined with the advantages of privacy and individual homeownership. Eli Spevak and Jim Labbe never let go of the idea, and in January 2003 they purchased Peninsula Park Commons, a 7-unit courtyard apartment building located in the heart of the Piedmont Neighborhood and across the street from Portland's original rose garden. In the summer of 2004 we converted the property to 6 condominiums and one common unit. Since then we have started construction of an additional 3 units and new common spaces on the site.

Role: Developer and General Contractor.

Peninsula Park Commons - Renovation

Peninsula Park Commons - Renovation

Over five years ago, a group of folks first got together in a living room in North Portland and talked about what it would be like to have a shared housing situation where everyone had his or her own space but access to common outdoor and indoor spaces and amenities. We wanted the best of co-housing--fun, community, low-impact living, and shared resources—combined with the advantages of privacy and individual homeownership. Eli Spevak and Jim Labbe never let go of the idea, and in January 2003 they purchased Peninsula Park Commons, a 7-unit courtyard apartment building located in the heart of the Piedmont Neighborhood and across the street from Portland's original rose garden. In the summer of 2004 we converted the property to 6 condominiums and one common unit. Since then we have started construction of an additional 3 units and new common spaces on the site.