Squareone Villages

Permanently affordable housing: a primary purpose of Squareone Villages is to acquire and hold land in trust in order to provide for permanently affordable housing for people with low-incomes with the objective of forever removing the land from the speculative market. Squareone develops housing on the land in an environmentally sensitive and socially responsible manner. Squareone specializes in developing cooperative housing that is controlled by the residents through democratic process. This includes leasehold housing co-ops, where the co-op leases the land and housing from Squareone, and limited-equity housing co-ops, where the co-op owns the housing and leases the land from Squareone. Staff provides ongoing training and support to the co-op's members and board in operations and management of the property. Emerald village eugene (eve) is a 22-unit leasehold housing cooperative located in eugene, Oregon that opened in 2018. It consists of 22 detached tiny homes and shared amenities including a bike shelter, tool shed, community building with meeting space and cooking facilities, gardens and greenhouse. To qualify for residency at eve, households must earn 50% of the area median income or under. In 2022, monthly housing costs at eve ranged from 214-316, including utilities. Cottage village cooperative (cvc) is a 13-unit leasehold housing cooperative located in cottage grove, Oregon that opened in 2020. The project was developed by Squareone in partnership with the cottage village coalition, a committee of local volunteers passionate about addressing issues of housing and homelessness in their rural community. It consists of 13 detached tiny homes, and a shop building that was converted into a common house in 2022 for resident meetings and gatherings. To qualify for residency at cvc, households must earn 50% of the area median income or under. In 2022, monthly housing costs at cvc ranged from 350-500, including all utilities except electrical. C street cooperative is a 6-unit limited-equity housing cooperative located in springfield, Oregon that opened in 2021. The project was developed by Squareone in partnership with cultivate, inc. It consists of 6 one-bedroom suites within 2 dwellings units on a typical residential lot. To qualify for residency at c street, households must earn 80% of the area median income or under. In 2022, monthly housing costs at c street were 788, including utilities. Peacevillage cooperative (pvc) is a 70-unit limited-equity housing cooperative located in eugene, Oregon that began construction in 2022. Squareone purchased the 3.6 acre property from peace presbyterian church. It consists of 70 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom dwellings and utilizes the existing buildings on the property to provide common laundry, storage, cooking, and gathering space. To qualify for residency at pvc, households must earn 60% of the area median income or under. Occupancy is expected at the end of 2023, and monthly housing costs will be 450-750, including utilities. 1656 & 1662 walnut street is a property with a single-family house and accessory dwelling unit that was donated to Squareone in 2022. Squareone is continuing to rent the housing to the long-time tenants with rents affordable to households under 80% of the area median income. In 2022, Squareone also began discussion with the adjacent property owned by the walnut street co-op about expanding this existing co-op to include the houses at 1656 and 1662 walnut street.

The village model: Squareone Villages serves as a model to other communities by providing information, resources, and expertise to others interested in addressing issues of homelessness and housing affordability. The village toolbox is a proprietary set of online resources for planning, developing, and operating an affordable tiny house village from concept to reality. The purpose of the toolbox is to help advocates mobilize a broad range of stakeholders in their own communities to create new shelter and housing options for low-income households and households experiencing homelessness. The village model website offers another venue for sharing Squareone's housing development process and model. It focuses on assisting others in better understanding the innovative ownership structure used by Squareone, which combines a community land trust and a limited-equity housing cooperative. These resources are being used to educate local officials, advocates, lenders, service providers, and low-income households in an effort to scale up permanently affordable housing. Consulting services are offered to groups that are actively planning a village. Squareone has consulted on a variety of shelter and housing projects throughout the u.s with an emphasis on a collaborative development process and democratic, resident-management as core values.

Safe, non-congregate shelters: Squareone Villages partnered with the city of eugene and lane county to provide safe, non-congregate shelter for individuals and families that were experiencing homelessness. Opportunity village eugene (ove) opened in 2013 and provides an alternative shelter option for adults experiencing homelessness. Ove consists of 30 detached sleeping shelters and shared common facilities including bathrooms, a shower, laundry facilities, cooking facilities, and a yurt with meeting space and computers for community use. It offers a first step for people experiencing homelessness where they can stabilize their lives and access community services as they work toward securing housing. A part-time housing navigator assists clients with obtaining identification documents, enrolling in the Oregon health plan, conducting housing searches, and advocating with landlords and property managers, with the goal of securing permanent housing. Sov provides direct financial assistance to ove residents to assist in paying rental application fees, security deposits, and other move-in expenses. Emergency housing vouchers were available to ove clients during 2022, which greatly aided clients in securing housing. A total of 49 individuals spent at least one night at ove during 2022. One in three people who stayed at ove during 2022 exited into housing. Squareone has leased the land on which ove exists from the city of eugene for 1/year since 2013. Toward the end of 2022, the city informed sov that they plan to end ove's lease in order to build a public works facility on the property. Sov staff began discussions with city staff to locate a potential new site for ove. "micro-site" shelter expansion in january 2021, Squareone began operations at four alternative, temporary, non-congregate shelter sites funded by the city of eugene and lane county with covid-19 funds. Funding through lane county allowed Squareone to provide housing navigation services to clients at the two adult sites, while partner agencies provided services to those staying at the family shelter sites. The contract for managing these sites ended on june 30 2022 when covid-related funds were no longer available, and the micro-sites were closed. The housing navigator assisted clients in locating other shelter options. "safe sleep site" shelter expansion in mid-2022, Squareone contracted with the city of eugene to provide space for a 40-unit "safe sleep site" on property owned by Squareone at 2243 roosevelt blvd. The city contracted with carry it forward, a local nonprofit serving the unhoused population, to manage and operate the safe sleep site, which involved managing entrances and exits, enforcing rules, and providing housing navigation. Squareone provided property improvements, including the construction of restrooms and upgraded sleeping units.