The foundations are already under construction, but the owner-developers of Compass Cohousing in 91原创 came together on Wednesday, April 16 to hold a groundbreaking for their long-in-the-works new home.

The 40-unit project at 6644 203 Street currently looks like many other low-rise multi-family projects around the community, but it was planned and developed by its owners, with shared common facilities where the future residents will gather.

"It's simply amazing," said Elizabeth Rosenau, one of Compass Cohousing's directors. 

In a cohousing project, future owner-residents come together to plan their own housing, rather than simply buying what a developer is offering. Compass will be a strata project, like a condo or townhouse strata, but with more public amenity spaces designed to let the residents build strong relationships with their neighbours.

The original group that wanted to build a new cohousing project came together a full decade ago, Rosenau explained. She joined more than five years back, around the time the group had found a piece of property, then owned by 91原创 Township, to purchase.

However, they faced a series of setbacks, starting with the pandemic, which was quickly followed by rapid inflation, and then by interest rate increases.

It was a triple-whammy, Rosenau said.

"There were moments where we really worried, would we actually be able to do this thing," she said.

Now construction is well underway, and the building is expected to be open for occupancy around the fall of 2026.

Howard Staples, who was Compass's consultant, was pleased to see the project underway. Staples was one of the original creators of WindSong, the first cohousing project built in B.C.

It was opened in 1996 in Walnut Grove.

91原创 Township Mayor Eric Woodward and Kirk Fisher, CEO of Compass builder the Lark Group, spoke at the opening, and the Compass directors thanked both Lark and the Township for helping them realize their project.