Now that it has the green light to proceed with the second phase of home construction, Heartwood Cohousing will spend the coming months working on final home designs and construction financing.
The Bayfield-area neighborhood, at 800 Heartwood Lane about 2 miles northeast of Bayfield’s Gem Village neighborhood, received the OK on Tuesday from the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners to expand with 14 new single-family detached homes.
“We’ve been doing all this work with all the engineers and lawyers and everything for all these years. … At the beginning, it was far from certain,” said Mac Thomson, the Phase 2 project manager at Heartwood Cohousing.
Thomson, who’s looking to hire a builder, said nine of the 14 future homes have been presold to committed buyers largely coming from the Denver metro area, as well as some buyers from states like California and Texas, who look to be close to nature and outdoor recreation opportunities and reside in a close-knit community. Thomson also hopes to find buyers on the remaining five homes.
“We’ve got hundreds of people that have been interested and just kind of checking (Heartwood Cohousing) out,” he said, adding those coming from the Denver area look to get away from the “crazy, big-city rat race.”
Thomson said he’s working with an architect specializing in energy-efficient and solar home designs and those future homebuyers to make blueprints of what they want in their homes and what those units will look like.
“Then we design four home models to meet those needs,” he said.
Thomson said he expects to break ground on the 14 homes in spring 2025 and still expects to complete construction next year. The new homes will be on a 10-acre stretch of land directly east of the 24 existing homes.
Thomson told The Durango Herald in May that the new homes will range from 1,100 to 2,600 square feet, and tentative sale prices would range from $665,000 to $885,000. Similar to the Phase 1 homes, Phase 2 homes will be energy efficient and capable of running on solar energy.
Upon adding the new homes, Heartwood Cohousing will feature a total of 38 units.
Heartwood Cohousing is a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood where residents collectively manage amenities like a greenhouse, wood shop, community building, land and other shared assets as a way to help better connect with each other.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
