A Dream Unfulfilled – CT Cohousing Project Foreclosed
Category: Cohousing
February 13, 2022 – A group of Connecticut would be homeowners and investors is greatly disappointed about the demise of Rocky Corner, a planned co-housing project in Bethany, CT. It was to be Connecticut’s first collaborative living project, but ultimately failed because it took too long to develop and costs grew too high.
After years of planning, the group that sponsored it finally broke ground in 2018. Group decision making sometimes added difficulties to the process, and it took years to get the co-housing community approved by the town’s planning authorities. During that prolonged wait, a few members—even in their desperation—briefly eyed best slots not on GamStop as a way to offset mounting financial pressures. Unfortunately, rock ledge was discovered, which greatly added to the costs. Claudia Ruffle, a retired teacher and secretary, was one of the early home purchasers. She and her friend, who sold their home to buy one in Rocky Corner, were two of many who lost all of the money they put into it and are now struggling, according to a story in the New York Times.
Comments on "A Dream Unfulfilled – CT Cohousing Project Foreclosed"
John Brady says:
So sad to see all these good people have their dreams dashed. Very much hope the project can live on in another form. Many people love their co-housing communities, but it is hard work to have them come to reality and then manage for the common good.
JCarol says:
While it's sad to see their dreams dashed it's even sadder to learn their retirement funds were eviscerated with no high earning years ahead to replenish them.
My son just told me about his friend who was very gung-ho about cryptocurrency. He (in his lat 30s) convinced his (retired) parents and in-laws that it would make them all rich. Bottom line: they've all lost more than half of their investment. They're financially and emotionally devastated at the turn of events.
I see the cohousing project in the blog and my cryptocurrency anecdotes as cautionary tales about the devastating pitfalls of investing money one can't afford to lose in projects they don't fully vet or understand.
Jemmie says:
This is a sad story and can't help but feel badly for those that lost their investment. I always thought co-housing sounded like a great idea. I know it's a lot of work and relies on members' cooperation and an ongoing investment of their time to keep it up and running. It would be nice if those who live in a co-op would share their stories of life in this type of community.
Everette says:
How sad that retirees lost their savings in this community. There should be better consumer protections against such unviable properties.
Ava says:
Apologies for the belated comment. As the former spouse of one of the people who lost their entire life savings, I think it's important to highlight that ultimately, this is a story of failed project management by the people who happily took her money. The sad and discouraging thing is that they appear not to have learned from their mistakes. If you read their updates on their website, they are still blaming everything on nefarious outside forces. One of my guiding principles throughout my career was, "You can delegate authority, but you can't delegate responsibility." The group running things still accepts no responsibility.
Example: They now say that the powers that be, who supposedly don't want projects like this to succeed, "conjure" obstacles and roadblocks. What did that mean in this case? They were building their project on an old urban junkyard, where the soil and the groundwater were full of heavy metals and other toxic materials. The group assumed that they could simply dig wells for their water supply. The evil powers that be "conjured" a requirement for that water to be treated, and thus made non-lethal. While this was being resolved, grant funding was naturally held up. There were other, similar issues which cropped up. But the group still refuses to take ownership, simply blowing these things off as something that someone else should have taken care of.
Co-housing is a wonderful concept, something that can work very well. It's a shame that the failure of this project may cast it in a poor light to the public.