2025 OCHN Annual Meeting Recap

The Oregon Cooperative Housing Network hosted its first annual meeting in three years, bringing together cooperative housing advocates, developers, and partners from across Oregon and Washington to share updates and advance strategies for growing housing co-ops statewide.

Highlights included an update on The Cooperative Housing Blueprint, a bilingual (English/Spanish) manual for equitable homeownership that is complete and moving into layout, with publication expected in about six months. Place Initiative will self-publish the book at cost to ensure it’s accessible and useful to communities interested in cooperative housing.

The group also discussed grant efforts and coalition work focused on creating pathways for tenants to purchase their buildings, particularly affordable housing with expiring protections. While Oregon continues to face challenges securing share loans for cooperative buyers, progress is being made through whole-building financing and emerging partnerships with credit unions and mission-aligned lenders.

Policy conversations centered on Eugene’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), growing interest in cooperative housing at the state and local levels, and lessons from Washington’s more developed cooperative ecosystem.

The meeting closed with open discussion about next opportunities, including partnerships with faith communities, support for new co-ops in places like Corvallis, and continued collaboration with the Northwest Cooperative Development Center to strengthen financing, policy, and technical assistance.