New Trends in Eco-Development
Part of our attention for the past four years has been on the development of Eco-Communities — particularly ecovillages and Regenerative Cohousing.
We’re Fiscal Sponsors for two ecovillage groups — Ecovillage New Jersey and Ecovillagers Alliance — and have previous experience with other ecovillage and intentional community efforts. Ecovillages are important for their ability to demonstrate more ecological ways of living, and for their fostering of communities that are self-managing and highly resilient. Cohousing neighborhoods take some of these principles into more mainstream communities, and typically offer lower costs as well as a smaller environmental footprint, with open opportunities for collaboration, sharing, and engagement.
Opportunities for Developers
It’s only a matter of time before housing developers — a majority of whom are currently focused on rental projects — start moving in the direction of building ecovillages and cohousing types of neighborhoods and communities. It is appealing to both millennials and to empty-nester baby boomers; it lowers costs and impacts for both developers and consumers; and it represents a trend toward sharing, caring, and living lightly on the land that is consistent with the way many if not most of us want to live these days.
We’re interested in partnering with real estate developers to create new and revitalized cooperative neighborhoods and communities. We have several possible sites, and a pool of more than 650 families interested in buying in different parts of New Jersey. Ideal cluster size is 35 units, and multiple clusters can be developed ecologically on suitable sites. We can guide developers through the process, connect them with experts in various fields, and assist them with community engagement, essential to the success of such neighborhoods. Ecovillage developments requires a different kind of “marketing,” an immersion in what it means to belong to a community and how communities become self-governing.
Opportunities for Property Owners
We’re interested in partnering with property owners to jointly develop ecologically-sensitive communities with a win-win-win model.
If you’re interested, reach out to us today.