Overview of Possible Shared Housing Models
Vacant land development
Overview
With vacant land, anything’s possible
(subject to zoning and budget). Most
co-housing communities in the US
have been built from scratch, and this
process provides for the greatest
degree of design input and freedom
from prospective residents.
Advantages
 Lots of design flexibility

New construction is less likely to
need repairs and more likely to be
energy-efficient

No displacement involved

Ability to create a unit mix that
matches a particular group of
households
Disadvantages
 Relatively high cost of newconstruction

On-site parking may be required
depending on zoning, distance to
transit, and lender requirements

The design/construction process
can take a long time
Local Examples
 CoHo Corvallis

Trillium Hollow
Detached single family homes on adjoining lots
Overview
Advantages
Each home has its own lot;
 Community can grow (or shrink)
homeowners have fee simple
over time as neighboring homes
ownership of their property;
go on the market and are bought
neighbors may remove fences, share
by people interested in living in
common structures…; community can
community
grow/shrink as nearby homes join/exit  Homes are detached, which is
community over time
consistent with traditional
Disadvantages
 Since individual homes go on the
market sporadically, it can take a
long time to assemble multiple
homes next to each other

It can be challenging to build
common interior facilities that
would be truly shared (ie. kitchen,
guest house, bike storage…) if
each household has their own lot

Single family housing costs are
typically higher than multifamily
costs, so this is a relatively
expensive option on a per-unit
basis (although probably not
different from new-construction)
neighborhood housing densities in
many existing neighborhoods

High levels of household privacy

Accessory dwelling units might
be added to increase housing
density and provide smaller, more
affordable dwellings
Local Examples
 OnGoing Community
Overview of Possible Shared Housing Models
Apartment conversion
Overview
Advantages
Convert an existing apartment
 Relatively quick development
building into condominiums or
process
cooperative ownership. Common
 Opportunity to re-purpose nice,
interior space can consist of converted
courtyard-shaped apartments in
apartment unit(s), converted garage
existing neighborhoods
building(s), and/or construction of a
 Older apartments are less likely to
new on-site building.
be full of on-site parking

Disadvantages
Local Examples
 Displacement of existing residents  Some of the units at Cascadia
Commons are converted
 Harder to address apt-to-apt noise
apartments.
issues within older buildings

Units may not be laid out well to
encourage social interaction (ie.
Kitchens in the rears of the units)

Apartments with 3+ bedrooms are
fairly rare.
Old-building charm

Peninsula Park Commons
Detached single family homes on a single lot
Overview
Advantages
Oftentimes single family homes are
 Using the condominium
located on large lots with room to
ownership model avoids the
construct additional dwellings.
planning process of legally
Additional density may be possible by
dividing a large lot into individual
adding “Accessory Dwelling Units”
home sites
(ADUs).
 Nice opportunity to mix large and
small homes within the same
If multiple houses are on the same lot,
community
the condominium model can allow
 In-fill opportunities within
each household to own their home,
existing neighborhoods
while the grounds and any commonuse structures are owned in common.
Disadvantages
Local Examples
 It’s difficult to find this type of
 Sabin Green near NE 19th and
property because many developers
Prescott
actively seek out these underdeveloped in-fill sites

Finding opportunities for more
than 4-8 units on a particular site
with this model is unlikely
Overview of Possible Shared Housing Models
Large homes on large lots
Overview
Some very over-sized homes can be
found with 6-13 bedrooms and big
interior common spaces. Some of
these might make tremendous group
living situations, with each person
having their own bedroom and
everyone sharing living spaces, a
really large kitchen, craft areas,
outside gardening… If there is
sufficient property, residents might
build 200sf or smaller un-permitted
structures that could serve as sleeping
quarters.
Advantages
 Some of these homes are pretty
majestic from the street and they
stay on the market a long time
because it’s hard to figure out
what to do with them

Large homes often have large lots
with room for substantial gardens,
out-buildings…

Avoids duplication between
individual and common kitchen
facilities by just having one very
large kitchen which could be well
outfitted

Can be launched relatively
quickly
Disadvantages
 If an ownership model is desired,
financing can be a challenge that
accommodates turnover of
residents.

Local Examples
 Portland permaculture farm near
NE 47th and Killingsworth

Tryon Life Community Farm
Shared interior spaces provide
less opportunities for individual
privacy; need to share
kitchen/eating space and
associated clean-up
responsibilities
Commercial / Warehouse conversion
Overview
The idea with this model is to convert
an existing commercial/warehouse
building into multiple ‘loft’ dwellings
by installing interior partitions and
basic amenities (kitchens, baths…).
Common spaces (craft areas, bike
storage, wood shop…) can be carved
out of the building interior. With flatroofed buildings, there might be
opportunities for roof-top gardens and
outdoor lounge areas. Some buildings
have lots of character, while others
are visually drab. Appropriate
properties are most likely to be found
in older commercial / industrial areas.
Advantages
 No displacement involved

Lots of flexibility in how a
building is cut up into individual
units

Urban/gritty appeal

Interior space can be spare and
extremely flexible in layout

2-story buildings can support tallceiling rooms and loft space for
sleeping/privacy
Disadvantages
 Locations are often on busy
streets and in commercial /
industrial areas

Natural lighting is harder to come
by (unless an interior courtyard
and/or skylights are included in
the design)

Industrial zones, where some
potential buildings are located, do
not allow for residential use.
Where zoning permits a
conversion to residential use,
required seismic and/or sprinkler
upgrades can be very expensive.
Local Examples
 Many under-the-radar screen
examples
Overview of Possible Shared Housing Models
Motel conversion
Overview
Some motels have horseshoe
configurations that provide a nice
community feel if you imagine
replacing most of the asphalt parking
with gardens and other community
space. Motel rooms could be
converted to small condo units – or
combined together to create larger
units. Depending on the age of the
motel, sound isolation between units
can be better than in traditional
apartments. Architectural details can
be added on the building exterior to
create a more townhouse-style look.
Advantages
 With small unit sizes and the
opportunity for a large common
space (the motel office and
perhaps 1 or more units) may
support relatively low unit sale
prices

Conversion can be a pretty quick
process

Some motels have fun, classic,
50’s signs and architectural
features

No (or little) displacement
involved

Great opportunity for
transforming parking into a
community gathering space
Disadvantages
 Motels rarely go on the market,
and are often sold as private
transactions (and never listed)


Local Examples
 Central City Concern in Portland,
OR did a really nice motel
conversion to affordable
apartments near NE 20th and
Some motels are huge cash
Sandy.
generators and might actually be a
more valuable at motels than as
condos or other permanent
residency types
Motel rooms tend to be 350 – 450
square feet, which is pretty small.
Pocket Neighborhood
Overview
Advantages
Cities on both sides of the country
 Courtyard, community oriented
have adopted codes that support
housing with separate ownership
subdivision layouts where each lot
of the land
can front onto a central courtyard
 ‘Common greens’ that double as
rather than directly onto a public
central green space and frontage
street. This allows for subdivision
for lots
layouts much more supportive of
 Ability to build more homes on
community. In some cities, ‘cottage
the same piece of land makes
cluster’ zoning ordinances allow
construction of smaller homes
smaller-than-standard lot sizes so long
more financially feasible
as homes built on them are similarly
small.
Disadvantages
 Difficult to create interior spaces
with shared ownership

Subdivision process takes more
time than the condo process
(although it also has some
important advantages)
Local Examples
 See work of Ross Chapin
Architects and The Cottage
Company
Overview of Possible Shared Housing Models
Single Family home(s) with ADUs and/or Detached Bedrooms
Overview
Construct one or more accessory
dwelling units and/or detached
bedrooms on the same lot as an
existing home or of adjoining homes
Advantages
Disadvantages
Local Examples
 Detached bedrooms provide more  This is an unusual enough housing  Ruth’s Garden Cottages in
privacy/independence than in a
form that appraisers can be
Portland, OR
group house, yet retain the sharing
challenged to find comps,
 Sabin Green in Portland, OR
opportunities of living close to
potentially limiting re-sale value
friends.
 Although uses for detached
 Construction can be fairly quick,
bedrooms are quite flexible, the
utilities can be shared, and
market of prospective buyers is
detached bedrooms can be
smaller than for a single family
designed to be nearly autonomous
home with extra bedrooms
(own bath, hot-plate kitchen)

Over time, detached ADUs or
bedrooms could be used as guest
houses, home offices, AirBNB
rentals…
Cluster of tiny homes on wheels
Overview
Advantages
Cluster together multiple homes-on Provides tiny home
wheels on a single lot. Each person
owners/residents a nice mix of
would own or rent their tiny house. A
independence and community
common house would provide shared  Flexibility to change who lives
facilities (ie. laundry, larger kitchen?,
there (and which houses are onliving room). This could be an
site) over time as people move in
existing house or a newly built
and out with their homes in tow
structure.
Disadvantages
Local Examples
 Moving tiny homes and dealing
 One under development in
with electrical/water/sewer hookSonoma, CA.
ups is not as easy as people like to  One demonstration project in
think
Washington, DC

This housing model may not
provide a legal form of occupancy
in many communities