Drawing the Line
While builders and architects need resident input in order to ensure they’re creating the kind of community environment members want, it’s important not to take resident input too far.
At The Plaza at Highlands Crossing in Bella Vista, Ark., residents were allowed to customize each of the 59 units.
“While they paid additionally for the customization, it required an enormous amount of time of the developer/construction manager,” explains Nancy Leake, executive director of Senior Living Concepts and the Community Development Corp. Bentonville/Bella Vista.
As a result, it impacted the project’s schedule, delaying the project by about 60 days. “You can imagine how tough the process was with 59 individual residents, each with a lot of extra time to think about things,” Leake says. “But it was worth it.”
WHDC’s Leach is in the thick of designing the $7 million Wild Sage Village, and he says balancing the budget against the desires of residents can be tough.
“So far our biggest challenge [at Wild Sage] has been getting the design and the budget in alignment, nothing new for housing development,” Leach says.
He’s overcoming the obstacle by “working with our designers and with the community members to try and keep within our price points. Having good communication and group decision-making processes are critical.”
While the design phase may take a little longer to accommodate the group-think, Durrett adds, “It rarely takes longer [to do a cohousing project overall] because we save so much time in entitlements.”