Testimonial - Jane Lester
Owner of Towering Trees LLC & Developer of Crow Woods Cohousing
“It’s been an amazing journey and I could not have done any of it without Emma’s expertise, energy and commitment.”
“After my retirement seemed the perfect time to pursue my dream of building a cohousing community to be my forever home. I know nothing about buying land, designing buildings or getting loans, but I figured I could make it happen. My first step was to engage the very talented Emma as Project Manager. She jumped eagerly on board, and from that first day two and a half years ago, she’s kept me going in the right direction.
Emma tracks all of our tasks and meetings, next steps and deadlines, budgets and expenditures, keeping websites and site plans accurate. She coordinates with our contractors and our community members, with our legal team and the city officials, and gives us nudges as needed to get the next tasks done. She researched creative financing options, cooperative ownership structures, and city regulations that would govern our community. She dove into the construction budget, analyzing each choice of appliance, floor material, and plumbing fixture to make sure we chose well. She learned everything she could about setting up condominium Homeowners Association guidelines, looking into creative ways to structure our utilities, approaching everything in a way consistent with the principles of cohousing.
She’s always upbeat and encouraging, so committed to the success of our project, never misses a detail, and is welcomed by everyone on our team. Our architects say she is a joy to work with. She communicates directly and promptly, with bullet-pointed lists of things to be done, and isn’t afraid to pose the hard questions when problems arise. She’s always interested in the worst case scenario, so we can be prepared for whatever happens. Emma takes detailed notes of every communication and meeting, which frees me up for the on the ground work, whether it’s meeting with arborists, walking through the houses with the asbestos inspector, or meeting the vacant building monitor at the site. I’m thrilled that we are about to break ground on my dream community.
It’s been an amazing journey and I could not have done any of it without Emma’s expertise, energy and commitment.”
