Recorded on: July 10, 2015
Air Date: July 13, 2015
To build traditional affordable housing for the 700 Lane County residents identified as chronically homeless would cost about $60 million. That price is based on a typical cost of $160,000 to $180,000 for each two-person unit. The Eugene-Springfield Consolidated Plan for 2015 anticipates just $13 million in federal support for such housing over the next five years. That is about one-fifth of the amount needed for the customary approach to providing affordable housing.
Dan Bryant and Andy Heben of SquareOne Villages (the nonprofit organization that built Eugene’s Opportunity Village) and Dan Hill of Arbor South Architecture will describe a new approach: a proposal to build the first-in-the-nation affordable micro-housing project -- for a fraction of the cost of traditional housing.
Dubbed “Emerald Village Eugene” (EVE), this project will provide permanent housing ranging from 120 to 250 square feet for small households of one to three individuals. The monthly payment, including all utilities and fees, is projected to be in the range of $225 to $275/month. Unlike most affordable housing projects, however, the residents will not be renters. Instead, they will be members of a housing cooperative that owns the facilities.
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