Germantown's Cohousing sign is up

At the corner of 5th and Taylor:

Update: Germantown Commons cohousing group sets timeline for upcoming meetings

The new cohousing project on 5th Av N has a name, Germantown Commons and they appear to have reserved a new domain for their website. In the meantime, the Germantown cohousing website has a timeline that includes rapidly approaching meetings:

COMMON HOUSE WORKSHOP – 7/18-20
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, July 18-20 2012, 6pm – 9pm

Wednesday: Open Meeting
Common House Presentation | Free Event
Hatcher & Fell Photography Studio
1208 7th Avenue North
Nashville 37208

Thursday, Friday: Planning Meetings
Neighborhood Center Resource Center
1312 3rd Avenue North
Nashville 37208


Jump in and explore if this community is right for you. The group will establish the goals and priorities for the Common House as well as the specific activities to take place there. The purpose of this programming workshop is to establish specific agreed-upon guidelines that will be included as the basis for the design criteria for individual spaces within the building. The program will be used to develop schematic floor plans and elevations for the Common House.

Recommended Workshop Fee: $1,000
Deadline for Reservation: July 15
(Your workshop fee goes toward home equity and is matched with an additional $1,000 discount to give you a total benefit of $2,000 in your home.)

Cohousing organizer gives Enclave the details on group's last meeting

Diane, one of the folks spearheading the cohousing group plans for a development at 5th and Taylor in Germantown, commented on a previous Enclave post on the project with more details, including good news regarding an old-growth Cottonwood:

There were 14 households represented in the site design workshop and we worked on Saturday brainstorming and discussing goals of the community. The group is interested in a multi-generational, multi-cultural community. The site was designed for some on street parking, a few garages and carports. Bike storage will be included. The community layout is designed in away that as people return to the community they walk past one another for social gatherings and contact on the common house patio. Sunday we worked with blocks and diagrams on the site to position how we wanted the housing, parking, bike storage, garden, play area, etc to be included. It was a lot of work but at the end everyone seemed really excited about it. For now the old Cottonwood tree is to remain and the children's play area under it will include a swing. The common house will have a wrap around porch partially under the tree.

Updates on cohousing and development

A couple of updates:

• A friend who has been involved in the Germantown cohousing project told me today that the meeting last week produced several resolutions, including building of a "common house" where residents can gather for meals, meetings, or entertainment and a community garden for the homes in the project at the corner of 5th Av N and Taylor St. The square footage of the two dozen multi-family structures will vary from 750 to 1,700. Cohousing intentionally includes home owners in the planning and design of their mutual community.
• Roy Dale, the engineer working with the developer of the project at 6th and Garfield, indicated to me by email 2 days ago that it may be 2 weeks before the high grass and brush can be cut at the rezoned property. Reportedly, it will be that long before developer Robin York can acquire the property and take responsibility for its upkeep. Dale also said he would ask York to make an attempt to convince the owner to mow and clean up the property. The current absentee owner is Ray C. Nathurst of Brentwood.

Germantown Cohousing meeting

A few weeks ago I blogged on a cohousing project planned for Germantown. According to a previous newsletter, last week the group sponsoring this project were supposed to have held a meeting for interested parties:

Step by step, the Germantown community is becoming more of a reality. All of the details have been worked out in our contract on the land, and we are just waiting on all of the necessary signatures in order to have a contract ....

Currently, the Construction and Development Committee is interviewing contractors to find someone to do the required site work to make sure that the site will actually work. This happens in the first 60 days after the contract is finalized.

The resident list fluctuates as people try to determine whether the location and the timing are right for them to join this community. Those who are considering are urged to attend the Site Design Workshop, scheduled for May 5-8. The cost will be $1,250 and this cost will go towards equity in your home. 

As yet, I have not been able to track down any info on how the meeting went. Anyone heard anything?

Cohousing project planned for Germantown

In the past few weeks, details have been finalized for a cohousing community in North End's Germantown neighborhood at the corner of 5th Av N and Taylor St. According to the New American Village Facebook page, approximately 20 homes and a "common house" (for social gatherings, meals, etc) will be built, and there were 32 people on the "interested list" a little over 2 weeks ago. According to the Nashville Cohousing website, the homes will be priced on the lower end of the "going rate" for Germantown: $150,000 - $300,000, depending on the size of the units.

Cohousing.org describes cohousing thusly:

Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods.

Cohousing residents are consciously committed to living as a community. The physical design encourages both social contact and individual space. Private homes contain all the features of conventional homes, but residents also have access to extensive common facilities such as open space, courtyards, a playground and a common house.

It appears to me that one of the reasons the Germantown site was chosen was that it is a walkable community proximate to coffee shops, restaurants, farmer's market, a public park, and a greenway. This is validation that the more Metro government funds and maintains infrastructure to support sustainable balance, the closer attractive, community-orient development follows.

Before we spend public money on stadiums and convention centers we should obligate revenues to supportive infrastructure in walkable neighborhoods to spur this kind of smart growth. Metro government could be the trendsetter instead of forever following behind developers.

A friend who attended one of the organizing meetings for the Germantown site told me that she was extremely impressed with the potential of the development. I cannot help but believe that this will be a net positive for our small part of Nashville.