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WHAT's IN THE MEDIA
CoHousing Houston integrates geothermal exchange systems
Houston CW39 by Carrigan Chauvin
February 28, 2023
Continuously building up up our city and practicing sustainably? Do we HAVE to give up one for the other? Kathleen English is here on behalf of CoHousing Houston, she is an architect and very knowledgeable of this first of it’s kind geothermal housing system in Houston!
EAST END COMMUNITY TAPS INTO GEOTHERMAL
Houston Chronicle by Kyra Buckler
February 25, 2023
Concept Neighborhood, the project's developer, says CoHousing Houston will be the first development of its kind in Harris County to use geothermal energy, as well as being the state’s first formal co-housing project. Members hold an equity stake in the overall project in addition to owning their individual units. Construction started in September at the 1.5 acre site at 114 Delmar, with the foundation expected to be poured within a few weeks. The 33-unit community is set to open in 2024.
Communal housing in Houston's East End hopes to promote sustainability by using geothermal energy
ABC 13 Houston (KTRK) by Chaz Miller
February 24, 2023
CoHousing Houston in the city's East End is months away from becoming a reality, but a key element of its identity is already being put into place.
The communal housing concept hopes to promote sustainability, and holes are being drilled into the ground so it can operate largely on geothermal energy.
Our new neighborhood is in the news! Stitching together a walkable lifestyle in the East End.
This development firm wants to make Houston’s East End area a car-free neighborhood by Ariel Worthy
January 17, 2023
Getting by without a car in Houston can be a challenge. The city has been a car-centric one for much of its modern history and while public transit options continue to grow, it’s still not a place that most people think of as extremely walkable.
One development company wants to change that, at least on a small scale, by gradually buying 17 acres of property in Houston’s East End with plans to turn the area into a walkable district over the next decade. It would feature mixed-income apartments and retail space where visitors and residents can connect to shopping and business on foot.
CoHousing Houston installs geothermal heating and cooling; expects to welcome residents by end of 2023
CoHousing Houston installs geothermal heating and cooling; expects to welcome residents by end of 2023 by Emily Marek
January 13, 2023
Texas’ first planned cohousing development, CoHousing Houston, has made a huge step towards welcoming residents into its communal spaces. A state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system is being installed under the development’s condominium units, creating an energy efficient and cost-effective way to regulate temperature in the community.
Geothermal heat exchange systems use the earth’s temperature to regulate living spaces. A system of wells and tubing 30 feet underground will circulate water around the community, providing cool temperatures in the summer and heat in the winter.
Cohousing development offers community, cost savings, and sustainability
First co-housing development in Texas being built in Houston
January 9, 2023
HOUSTON - The first co-housing development in Texas is being built in east Houston, as more families are looking for a lifestyle offering a sense of community, cost savings, and sustainability.
The Cohousing Association of America reports there are 165 cohousing communities in the US, with another 140 in the process of forming.
Isolation during the pandemic, and the rising cost of living, are leading more people to choose cohousing communities.
Houston's newest housing development is big on neighborly ties
Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research
By Matt Dulin, Senior Editor and Writer
February 10, 2022
During the February freeze last year, stories of neighbor helping neighbor were easy to find. Residents with electricity offered up extension cords to charge phones, lent out gas generators to keep heaters going, delivered hot cocoa to keep their spirits up, or simply opened their homes for a few hours or a few days to provide shelter. But what if we didn’t wait until the next disaster to really know and help our neighbors?
New cohousing development aims to turn neighbors into 'extended family' in Houston’s East End
Houston Chronicle | Business
By Marissa Luck, Staff Writer
January 21, 2022
A long-anticipated cohousing development is finally coming to fruition as a group of Houstonians break ground on what’s being described as the first cohousing development in Texas.
CoHousing Houston is starting construction Friday on a 33-unit residential community on a 1.5-acre property at 114 Delmar in the East End. Residents are expected to move in by 2023.
Texas' first cohousing residential community breaks ground
Building Design + Construction
By David Malone, Managing Editor
January 20, 2022
A new residential community concept will break ground in East End Houston on Jan. 21, 2022. The multimillion-dollar cohousing project is the first of its kind in Texas and will serve as an interactive livable space for neighbors in a sustainable environment.
A cohousing community is intended to provide its residents unique benefits such as fostering a sense of belonging by sharing a common purpose. Isolation is minimized through a physical and social design that naturally facilitates community interactions. Residents may also share the cost of everyday living expenses such as transportation, groceries, and internet usage.
FIRST cohousing community in texas breaks ground
NaturalAwakenings, Eco Brief
By Mike Hart
January, 2022
CoHousing Houston, a group of dedicated community-minded individuals, formed a development company to build their own cohousing neighborhood in Texas. The project, designed bu architects English and Associates of Houston, Texas and Caddis PC of Boulder, Colorado has 33 one to four bedroom units. The heart of the property is a 4,000+sq ft "Common House" which is used by cohousers as a meeting place, A venue for community dinners and other events that build relationships amongst residents.
Does Co-Housing Provide a Path to Happiness for Modern Parents?
New York Times, Opinion
Oct 22, 2021
American moms are isolated, overworked and undersupported. The solution may be living together, separately.
Dr. KIM SWALES INTERVIEwS CoHousing houston
Connecting with Dr. Kim Swales
Oct 21, 2021
In this episode, Kim interviews Lynn Morstead and Kelli Soika, founding members of CoHousing Houston. They talk about what cohousing is, the benefits and design, and who this type of community might be great for. This episode is one that will inform you about something you may not have known much about before and is a likely growing trend in the US and abroad. Listen in as these women talk about this passionate new project that is all about connection and community.
Meet the Architect Who’s Designing (and Living in) Houston’s First Cohousing Community
Houstonia
Home & Realestate
Feb. 2, 2021
HOUSTON’S FIRST-EVER COHOUSING COMMUNITY IS UNDERWAY in the East End: Last spring, a group of like-minded livers selected a site at 115 Lennox Ave to construct Cohousing Houston, which puts connection and the environment ahead of just about everything else.
Kathleen English, founder of English + Associates Architects, and her husband are one of 14 member households that are already onboard for the project that’s slated to wrap up in fall 2022. She and her firm also happen to be designing the property and homes there—which range from $330,000 to $780,000 for one to four bedrooms—with the help of Caddis Collaborative out of Boulder, Colorado.
English spoke with Houstonia about cohabitating, coworking, and even co-gardening in the community.
Texas’ First Cohousing is Coming to the East End
Houston Chronicle Business
Real-estate: Looped In
Nov. 6, 2020
We’ve all heard of coworking. But cohousing? Not so much. That’s because there are no cohousing communities in Texas, something a group of Houstonians are planning to change.
They’re designing a 33-unit condominium in the East End where a sense of community will be the key amenity, a need for which they believe the pandemic has underscored. Think shared meals (or, during socially distant times, outdoor happy hours) and decision-making that revolves around consensus, not votes.
Opinion: Designing togetherness during a pandemic? Cohousing groups say shared community a lifeline
Houston Chronicle Opinion: Outlook
Torie Ludwin, Sep. 26, 2020
Kelli Soika knows the value of a great neighbor. Her old neighbors were the kind of people who notice and care about those around them: A quick wave from the window when you walk past, an answered call when you worry that you left your stove on, or an offer of a beer when you’re reading on your porch on a hot afternoon. Great neighbors make everyone’s lives better. They make a community a richer place.
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Designing Togetherness: Cohousing Arrives in Houston
Rice Design Alliance
Torie Ludwin, Sep. 3, 2020
For the past seventy-five years, residential architecture has prioritized the individual private space of the single-family home. Outside, the car has dominated the transportation landscape, diminishing the possibility for people to interact with each other and to establish a sense of community and connection with others. The cohousing paradigm attempts to make changes to this dynamic, and it’s coming to Houston.
Cohousing is a form of communal living that organizes private residences and shared public spaces together into a larger residential arrangement. Examples of cohousing have been realized throughout the United States since the early 1990s. Now Cohousing Houston (CH), a newly formed local group, is laying the groundwork to be the first cohousing project in Texas.
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Texas' first cohousing community puts land under contract in East End
Houston Chronicle Business
Real-estate (Prime Property)
Mar. 3, 2020
A group of people looking to build a cohousing condo development -- a type of housing with a focus on communal living -- has land in the East End under contract. If developed, the project would likely be the first cohousing community in the state.
Cohousing is a collection of private homes grouped around shared spaces that usually include a communal kitchen and dining area, a guest house and a garden. While shared spaces are nothing new — condominiums and neighborhood associations typically offer communal rooftop decks or clubhouses — shared spaces in cohousing developments are not designed to serve as amenities, but as keystones to community. Common dining areas are home to regularly-scheduled communal meals that aim to bring neighbors closer together.