Members of Quimper Village gathered recently to put up a roadside sign after a hearing examiner approved the 28-unit cohousing project.

“Quimper Village is now more than just a dream,” said project CEO David Hundhausen in a press release. “We’ll start construction this spring and be moving in the fall of 2017.”

The Port Townsend project is to be located on 6 acres near San Juan Avenue and F Street.

The City of Port Townsend had hearing examiner Phil Olbrecht conduct a public hearing on Dec. 14. On Jan. 14 he gave the go-ahead; any objections must be filed within 21 days of that date, according to Hundhausen.

The project’s Construction Interface Team is interviewing contractors to determine who will build the large common house and the eight one-story condominiums intended to house the 28 living units, Hundhausen said.

HISTORY OF PROJECT

Hundhausen said the project started when he and his wife began questioning how and where they wanted to live their senior years. They discussed this with a small group of friends.

Rather than in a corporate-owned retirement community, they wanted an arrangement by which they, along with other like-minded individuals, could remain in control of their lives.

In January 2014, they did a presentation at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship based on the book “The Senior Cohousing Handbook” by Charles Durrett.

From the 65 attendees, 20 signed up to take a course recommended for those who wanted to explore living in a senior cohousing community: “Study Group 1, Aging Successfully.” At the end of this 10-week course, five households decided they wanted to build a senior cohousing community.

The group hired Charles Durrett and his wife and fellow architect, Katie McCamant, to present a workshop, “Getting It Built,” and 35 people attended. From this workshop, the original group of five households grew.

They decided to hire Durrett to be the project’s architect and to conduct a series of six workshops during which the group worked with him to design everything from the site plan to the private houses.

The group settled upon two sites, one of which, upon the recommendation of Durrett, it decided to purchase. In May 2015, the group presented its application to the city. Local architect Richard Berg collaborated with Durrett on the construction drawings. The group worked on building its community, drafting community agreements and covenants, and marketing the homes.

As of January, 22 of the 28 homes have been sold. All of the upfront costs have been funded by the group through its cooperative, Townsend Meadows. Units cost between $270,000 and $415,000. Applicants must reside in Washington state.

Learn more at quimpervillage.com.