The local housing market may look gloomy, but there are two bright spots:

Brooklyn Cohousing Group
Their vision is lofty — “create an oasis of community amid the swirling intensity of New York City” — yet four households in the Brooklyn Cohousing Group have already ponied up $10,000-$20,000 to construct or develop a building with a central courtyard, common space, and 20-30 private units of various sizes by 2009.

Spearheaded by Prospect Heights journalist Alex Marshall and his wife, this will be the first cohousing development ever built in NYC (the movement began in 1960s Denmark). There are still openings for associate and core equity members, all of whom receive this cohousing bible by Chris ScottHanson, the project’s consultant, once they commit. But first you’ll need to attend an open meeting, like the one tonight at PLAY. Details at brooklyncohousing.org.

Greenbelt
Proof that condo developers can also be do-gooders, Greenbelt, a sleek 8-unit condo building at 361 Manhattan Ave. in Williamsburg, is the first L.E.E.D.-certified residence in Brooklyn and the first L.E.E.D-certified performance space in the city. The sale of its units will subsidize the ground floor Center for Performance Research (CPR) run by Jonah Bokaer of Chez Bushwick and acclaimed choreographer John Jasperse — reversing that whole new-condos-displace-artists trend.

A story about Greenbelt (by yours truly) will appear next week in the premiere issue of Brooklyn Boom, published by The Brooklyn Paper, but yesterday, the developers announced their upcoming, free events: a BKLYN Green Drinks meetup Feb. 20 to launch “Home of the Future,” two consecutive open house weekends, Feb. 23-24 and March 1-2, 11 am-6 pm, featuring guided tours at 2 pm of a model apartment packed with green design products; an expert panel on green living Feb. 28, 7-9 pm; and CPR’s inaugural performance and art exhibit March 8. greenbeltbrooklyn.com (Prospective buyers are invited to the open house party on Feb. 7. RSVP at 718-384-5304). (The open house party is now being combined with the Feb. 20 event.)

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Note: The first class in the City Tech series on low-impact living, home decor and DIY repairs advertised here last week has been moved to Feb. 16. Download the updated brochure here.

Sent by Nicole