Cohousing: Residents must ‘see value in it’

Residents moved into the first American cohousing village in 1991, and now there are almost 40 cohousing communities in the United States, including two in Boulder County.

Locally, Jim Leach’s Wonderland Development Co. is credited with the developments Nyland Cohousing in Lafayette and Nomad Cohousing in Boulder as well as such villages in Littleton, Fort Collins and Golden. Still others that are planned or in the development stages in Colorado and out-of-state.

Wonderland also has an option on farmland in Weld County that is likely to be annexed into the town for a cohousing community consisting of a “cluster village” with custom home sites and open space for gardens and other agricultural uses.

Cohousing is generally more expensive – as much as 10 to 15 percent – on a per-square-foot basis than comparable, traditional housing in the same area because residents generally choose upgraded materials and features.

To make cohousing affordable, seven projects, including the Nomad development in Boulder, received subsidies from the local city or state government.

“You have to see the value in it,” Leach explains of cohousing. “You don’t do it just because you want to buy a home.”

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