Appendix - deep Dive

Co-op Casa intersects with community values and priorities, the complexities of the housing market and existing affordable housing systems, and sustainability / environmental goals. Most of these exist on neighborhood, city, county, state, country and global levels. Our focus is to bring the best thinking, work and experience together from all these areas to provide permanent solutions to benefit Tucson and its residents.

If you make it through all these materials, please do contact Mark Goehring (markgoehring@coopcasa.org) for a conversation!

Index

Co-op Casa resident income levels and wealth building

Who Co-op Casa serves
Co-op Casa fee structure
10-year wealth building potential
- Savings compared to renting or buying
- Additional Savings potential for car-free
- Combined wealth building potential

Alignment with Local and International Goals

City and County policy alignment
Co-op Casa and United Nations Sustainability Goals

Building Standards

Passive House Design
Solar Power system
Water Harvesting system

Co-op Casa resident income levels and wealth building

Who Co-op Casa Serves

Co-op Casa's primary goal is workforce housing — permanently affordable homes for households earning 50–100% of the Area Medium Income (AMI.) Every project also includes units below 50% AMI to help alleviate displacement pressure in Co-op Casa's neighborhoods.

Co-op Casa Fee Structure

Co-op Casa’s fee structure is designed to be a) affordable to all residents regardless of income level,
b) simple with as few tiers as possible, and c) non-bureaucratic and non-intrusive.
The monthly co-op fee structure has yet to be finalized, but here are the guiding principles:

10-year wealth building potential

Our all-in monthly fee, built-in savings program, and potential transportation savings create a significant wealth-building opportunity for residents.

Alignment with Local and International Goals

Co-op Casa is a new organization with an innovative model — and by design,
deeply aligned with decades of research and planning at every level,
from the City of Tucson's neighborhood level to the UN's global sustainability framework.

• Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson (Jan 2024)

Page 27 highlights the City’s interest in building capacity and supporting local developers and middle housing. [Go to Source page]

New ordinance that enables additional infill on residential lots. The ordinance explicitly mentions courtyard housing -- the type of housing Co-op Casa is developing. [Go to Source page]

$250M plan targeting 12,000+ affordable homes by 2035. Co-op Casa compliments the County’s goal by planning several thousand units of permanently affordable workforce housing. [Go to Source page.]

Map that identifies neighborhoods with a high affordable housing need. [Go to Source page.]

Identifying the best areas in town for new affordable housing development — according to residents. Co-op Casa sites meet the criteria of these two mapping tools. [Go to Source page.]

•Co-op Casa's initial projects are within this corridor. [Go to Source page.]

Plan for Tucson to become climate resilient. Co-op Casa address several parts of the plan, including net-zero buildings, heat resilience, and tree planting. [Go to Source doc.]

Co-op Casa aligns directly with 11 of 17 SDGs through specific, demonstrable features of the model. Priority: SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action).

The City and County of Tucson's initiatives and Co-op Casa's model align across twelve shared themes:
•  Permanent affordable housing & anti-displacement
•  Workforce housing & economic stability
•  Equitable transit-oriented development
•  Middle housing & infill development
•  Heat resilience & cooling
•  Clean energy & net-zero buildings
•  Water conservation & rainwater harvesting
•  Urban tree canopy & native ecosystems
•  Neighborhood-scale health & well-being
•  Gender equity & single-parent households
•  Community governance & democratic institutions
•  Partnerships & institutional alignment

2025 is the UN International Year of Cooperatives.
[Go to Source page.]

Building Standards

To ensure permanent affordability we will design and buid for 200-year sustainability.
To achieve this we will use Passive House performance standards, 
Co-op Casa will also feature a solar system and battery storage designed to meet residents' needs
and the best rainwater and graywater harvesting system.

The Co-op Casa Model Next: Get Involved