Under the cloud of the ongoing housing crunch comes a new concept that could land in Saanich.
For the past year a new group, Saanich Peninsula Cohousing, has been gauging the interest of people who are willing to become investors in their own new homes.
The group is founded by Barbara Whittington and Tracy Mills and will hold a free information meeting at Saanich Commonwealth Place on Sunday, April 23 at 2 p.m.
At this moment, Saanich Peninsula Cohousing has refined its vision and is planning on building a condo-like strata on land in Saanich, Central Saanich or Sidney, that is close to urban amenities.
“We have had interest expressed from Saanich residents and at this point we’re not [quite] looking to buy property, not until we have the number of people who want to be part of the co-housing group,” Whittington said. “We probably could do it with the numbers we have but we want the group to decide on it.”
The modern co-housing model is a fairly new trend for “people of all ages and stages.”
“The majority of co-housing are multi age, some are seniors, but we’re wanting to locate close to schools and green areas, something that is walkable and with a smaller environmental footprint.”
The group has talked to most municipal planners and council members from the Saanich, Central Saanich and Sidney municipalities.
“We’ve received a lot of interest in the idea of co-housing, which has the purpose of building a community,” said Whittington.
At the April 23 info session Whittington and Mills will present who they are, what they’re doing and hope to do.
The session will have an information presentation but will mostly be a question and answer opportunity, and a chance for potential members to meet and see if they get along. There is also a goal to ease the minds of interested people who might be scared off by the idea of joining a group before it has a site, Whittington said.
“We realize it can be hard for some people because you have to be a bit of a risk-taker and pioneer,” Whittington said. “The idea of multi-age housing is there are young families and older people who want to be living where there are people who can help them.”
Local co-housing expert Margaret Critchlow will also be a the session. Critchlow helped the Harbourside Co-housing in Sooke open in 2016. Interest on the concept in Sooke has been so brisk that a second such development, West Wind Harbour, is underway.
That enthusiasm is something that the Saanich Peninsula group hopes to instill in people in their neck of the woods.
“You have to have passion,” said Whittington, “and you have to be willing to take a chance.”
In the co-housing concept, Critchlow explained, like-minded people get together, share their honest expectations of what they want in housing, and come up with a plan. They form a development company through equity members and hire consultants and contractors to act on their behalf to build it.
Co-housing has its roots in Europe and there are 130 co-housing communities in the U.S. and 13 in Canada. The majority of those (nine) are in B.C., including Creekside Common in Courtenay, Pacific Gardens in Nanaimo and Harbourside in Sooke.
To learn more about the concept, the local project and how to get involved, visit saanichpeninsulacohousing.com.