Construction underway at 70-unit Peace Village

from the Santa Clara Community Organization

Peace Village, the 70-unit affordable housing project at River Road and Ferndale, started construction in October and is expected to become available in November 2023.

It is the largest project undertaken to date by Square One Villages, a non-profit formed 10 years ago in response to the crisis in our community around housing and homelessness. Since its formation in 2012, Square One Villages has built the non-congregate shelter Opportunity Village Eugene and three housing projects in Eugene, Springfield and Cottage Grove.

Square One’s mission is to create democratic communities with homes that are permanently affordable and environmentally sustainable. Each project is governed by a co-op consisting of the residents.

Peace Village will be a limited equity co-op in which each household owns equity in the housing, limited to $5,000 plus 3% simple interest. Unlike most affordable housing projects, residents in a limited equity co-op are owners of the co-op rather than tenants.

The project is being built on land formerly owned by Peace Presbyterian Church and purchased by Square One Villages last year with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The congregation received a 25-year lease for the worship and fellowship space as part of the sales agreement. One of the existing buildings will be converted for use by the housing co-op and another building will be shared by the co-op and the congregation.

Most of the homes are about 400 square feet including a loft, and are considered tiny homes. Eight are 782-square-foot two-bedroom townhomes and four are 407-square-foot ADA units. The project is being built by Dorman Construction. Square One Villages will initially manage the property.

Monthly payments for these homes will range from $450 to $750, depending on the size of the home. Households must be below 60% of area median income to qualify. Applications will be accepted starting this summer. People interested in applying may sign up to receive notification when applications will become available at https://www.squareonevillages.org/peace.

The complete Winter 2022-2023 Santa Clara Community Newsletter is available online.