IN THE NEWS
Contract Signed
On January 3, 445 Calderon LLC signed a Design-Build Contract with Barry Swenson Builder (BSB). Under this contract, BSB will complete the construction design of the Mountain View Cohousing Community, and then build the complex. BSB-Architectural is producing construction drawings based on the MVCC conceptual design by McCamant & Durrett, North America’s leading cohousing architectural firm.
Adding their signatures: David A Gibson, VP of BSB, and David M Burwen, President of 445 Calderon Manager, Inc. Behind them: Bob Hightower, Architect.
Our Project Approved!
Mountain View City Council, at its meeting of September 27, 2011, voted 7 to 0 to accept our construction application. For more details, click Council OK’s Cohousing. To download our press release in Microsoft Word format, click Release. To see the city’s video of the portion of the council meeting relating to MVCC, click Video-1; for the statements by MVCC representatives at the meeting, Video-2.
MVCC joins “Rock-It to the Future” Parade
On Saturday, April 28, 2012, a dozen-or-so members of MVCC joined the throng of floats parading along Castro Street through downtown Mountain View and on to Pioneer Park.
The event was organized by the City of Mountain View Recreation Division as the 34th Annual Spring Family Parade. This year’s theme was “Rock-it to the Future” — celebrating innovations for the future, sustainability, robotics, music, and community.
Artist’s conception of the front of the proposed construction, as viewed from Calderon Avenue
(The old farmhouse, once hidden behind trees, has been moved forward to the street)
We are a group of Bay Area residents who are creating a cohousing community at 445 Calderon Avenue in Mountain View, CA. We’ll have a new “old-fashioned” neighborhood of upscale, energy-efficient condominiums and common facilities— homes that we’ve planned and designed ourselves to promote collaboration and community, in a convenient walkable downtown location.
DO tread on me!
MVCC members check out some of the alternatives for flooring in their dwellings.
Greenbelt Alliance
endorses MVCC plans
In July 2011, the Greenbelt Alliance added MVCC to its list of endorsed compact development projects. These are higher density infill projects in existing urban areas, located near existing services and public transit. The newsletter of the San Francisco Bay Greenbelt Alliance has an enthusiastic write-up of MVCC's proposals at Grow Smart: “Building cohousing at 445 Calderon”.
New life for an old house
The Mountain View Historical Association’s current (Spring 2011) Newsletter contains an article about the way the old Bakotich farm house has been incorporated into plans for the Mountain View Cohousing Community. To see the portion of the newsletter that discusses the old farmhouse, click Excerpt.
MVCC at Trailblazer race
MVCC was again represented at the 2011 running of the Trailblazer race, September 27. The MVCC property at 445 Calderon Avenue abuts the Landels School Park, where the Stevens Creek Trail passes as it follows the creek.
AARP story on cohousing
includes discussion of
Mountain View
Cohousing Community
A five-part article in the January 31, 2011 issue of the AARP Online Bulletin discusses several different cohousing projects, including Mountain View Cohousing Community.
Although AARP gave their article the title “Elder Cohousing,” the article itself says:
Don’t be fooled by the word “senior.”
Many opting for this arrangement are in their 50s, 60s and early 70s and often still work.
(MVCC has elected not to seek legal designation as “senior” housing.)
The third section of the article describes the involvement of Suzy and David Burwen and the huge effort they’ve put into our project.