PORT TOWNSEND — A new cooperative housing development that is synchronized to the concept of “aging in place” is in the planning stages with completion possible as soon as two years, organizers said.
“We are building the community before we are creating the buildings,” said Dennis Daneau, the spokesman for the Quimper Village development to be located in a 6-acre field on F Street about 100 yards east of San Juan Avenue.
“We are interested in the idea of helping each other through the senior years and clearly rejecting the idea of a corporate warehousing of the senior population,” he said.
The property, with a T-shape, includes a narrower area where a road will be constructed lined by parking, garages, a garden shed and a workshop.
This opens into a wider area with a common building for group activities surrounded by 28 single-story homes, ranging from 900 to 1,300 square feet and sold from $250,000 to $425,000 range.
Although this — like almost everything about the project — could change according to Daneau.
“We are still in the planning stages,” he said.
“The trouble is that every time you want to do something green it ends up costing us more.”
The plans are under development with hopes to begin construction within a year and the first home-owners moving in by spring 2017.
Sixteen families are currently participating and are sharing the planning expenses, kicking in about $3,000 so far toward development expenses.
If the project fails or if one of the households decides to not participate they won’t get their money back.
“We are risk takers,” said Debbie Steele, Daneau’s wife.
“We are investing in an idea, a concept, about the best way to spend our last years.”
If another joins, they will be expected to kick in a comparable share, Daneau said, and if money is left over at the completion of the project, it will be returned to those who kicked in at the beginning.
While there is room for more people, not everyone will be accepted into the group.
One member of the household must be 55 or older. Daneau said that one 81-year-old is currently part of the group.
They also must be accepted into the group and share certain values and characteristics.
“We are a co-op, so we are allowed to turn someone away if we don’t think they’ll fit in,” he said.
“We don’t want people who aren’t willing to share, who always want to have their own tools.”
The environment will be more social than the average apartment complex, with people sharing shopping, cooking and checking up on each other.
This doesn’t mean that new members will need to be extroverts.
“There are a lot of elderly people who are introverts and they join a community like this for that very reason,” Daneau said.
“It forces them to be more social.”
Quimper Village will not be an assisted living facility although some residents will hire their own caregivers.
The development is intended for independently-inclined seniors.
“We want to be able to prepare our own food, eat with people we care about and be around people we like,” Daneau said.
“Our goal is to take control of our lives as we age and live in intentional community.
“We will not be put out to pasture.”
For more information write office@Quimpervillage.com.
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
