Peace Village Co-op
About the Project
In 2022, SquareOne Villages purchased 3.6 acres of land and roughly 9,000 sq. ft. of existing buildings from Peace Presbyterian Church at 3060 River Rd. in Eugene.
Pastor Glenn Edwards explains, “Peace Presbyterian Church is a relatively small congregation and yet we are committed to making a big impact in our neighborhood and community. Given that there are a large number of religious institutions with extra land that is developable, we hope that this type of partnersthip provides a replicable model for increasing our stock of permanently affordable housing stock. While Peace Presbyterian Church played a critical role in making this housing opportunity possible, it is not directly affiliated with Peace Village Co-op in any way..
On the land, SquareOne developed 70 new units of resident-owned housing, permanently affordable to households under 60% area median income.
The project is founded on a shared ownership structure that combines a Community Land Trust with a Limited-Equity Co-op. SquareOne retains ownership of the underlying land, with the intent of preserving long-term affordability, and the residents collectively own the housing on the land as member-owners of Peace Village Co-op. The goal of this shared-equity ownership structure is to create the most accessible pathway to homeownership in Lane County—reaching households with incomes as low 30% of the area median income—while also preserving the long-term affordability of the housing.
Scaling up the village model through the adaptive re-use of a large church property to create the most accessible pathway to homeownership in Lane County.
Project Data
Location: 3060 River Rd, Eugene, Oregon
Type: Limited Equity Co-op
Number of Units: 70
Lot Size: 3.6 acres
Density: 19.1 units/acre
Unit Mix: (14) Studio | (44) 1-bed | (8) 2-bed
Status: Open since 2023
Permanently Affordable for: 60% area median income or under
“I was in survival mode, I found a lot of commonality with other community members in that sense.
There is a sense of groundedness and safety, to finally be able to rest… living at Peace Village is like a full exhale.”
— Auraleigha, current resident
Village Design & Sustainability
Peace Village includes five unique floor plans to support a variety of small households. Many make cost-effective use of space with optional sleeping lofts in addition to ground-level bedrooms that support accessible living.
The compact homes are extremely energy-efficient, and are designed to use around 50% of the amount of energy as a similar sized home built to minimum code standards. Sustainability measures include highly insulated 2×8 wall construction, elevated airtightness measures, fully insulated slab construction, and high-efficiency heat pump space heating and water heating.
Existing buildings on the site provide common amenities that extend the space of each individual home. This includes a community kitchen and dining area; meeting space large enough to accommodate all of the residents; laundry facilities; storage space for bicycles, shared tools and resources; and other flexible use spaces.
All homes also feature a functional front porch or balcony. Vehicle parking is consolidated to the perimeter of the site, and the homes are clustered around generous open spaces to provide residents with a connection to the landscape and their neighbors. A fire lane and service road provides limited vehicular access into the center of the site.
