Cottage Village Coalition takes big step forward

The Cottage Village Coalition and SquareOne Villages are pleased to announce the purchase of an acre of property at 1430 E. Madison in Cottage Grove as the future home for Cottage Village. “We were pleasantly surprised to be able to purchase this property when it appeared that we did not have sufficient funds from our grant to do so,” reported Sharon Jean of the Coalition. After deciding to suspend the original purchase agreement and to broaden the search, the seller for the Madison property agreed to extend the closing date and dropped the price $35,000. The purchase was closed and recorded for $200,000 on March 8. “We now look forward to working with neighbors and the community to make this a model for providing quality, truly affordable housing for people in our community who are in need of a decent place to live."

The plans for Cottage Village call for 13 tiny homes to be built on the property for Cottage Grove residents with extremely low-incomes. In addition, a four-bedroom house on the property will be renovated and rented while the project is under development. Cottage Village is being modeled after Emerald Village Eugene, a project of 22 tiny homes scheduled to be built this summer by SquareOne Villages.

Dan Bryant, Executive Director of SquareOne Villages, calls these projects “an innovative solution to the housing crisis being experienced in most communities on the west coast. Through our work in Eugene, Cottage Grove and many other Oregon communities, we have found that there are many good, decent people with very modest income who simply cannot afford the increasing cost of housing today,” reported Bryant, “and publicly funded sources are not keeping up with the demand. I applaud the Cottage Village Coalition for stepping up to meet this challenge."

The purchase of the property was made possible with a grant to SquareOne Villages of $200,000 by Meyer Memorial Trust. The grant was one of four made by Meyer as part of their Affordable Housing Initiative. (More info on the Meyer program can be found at https://mmt.org/news/new-grants-support-strategies-lower-housing-development-costs)

Many details for the Cottage Village still need to be worked out, including funding. The group estimates that it will take up to $800,000 to develop the project. The coalition holds public meetings each month to discuss it plans. "It is our commitment to be good neighbors and to address all questions about this project” says Jean. "We believe the Cottage Village will be an attractive addition to the neighborhood, with quality built housing and carefully chosen residents who, though low income, still deserve a decent home."

Register Guard Article: "Eugene tiny house developer buys Cottage Grove lot with plans for ‘Cottage Village’"