HASSO HERING

Don’t be fooled by first impressions. This is not Hub City Village’s pool.

The first thing I noticed when I stopped by the Hub City Village construction site last Saturday was the concrete pool to the right of the entrance.

It looked to be about five feet deep. But of course it’s not a pool. It’s a “bioswale” meant to catch rainwater from the housing development and let the water seep into the ground rather instead of slowing into the Albany storm sewer system.

The “bio” in the term suggests that it will be filled with plants, as similar features elsewhere in Albany have been.

“It will be planted this weekend and a four-foot fence will be installed,” Stacey Batholomew told me in an email. She is president of Creating Housing Coalition, the Albany nonprofit that proposed, planned and then built this community of 27 “tiny houses” and related amenities.

The swale, she reminded me, is required by the city.

Hub City Village, at 241 Waverly Drive S.E., is almost finished except for the grounds, I noticed when I stopped the bike there Saturday. I asked Bartholomew for an update, and she replied:

“We are looking to get started on housing folks next week. The parking lot will be poured and painted this Friday. We are awaiting final inspections on finished homes, and finish plumbing, electrical and landscaping all to be completed this week. The final installation of the countertops for the six homes in the middle will happen next Monday as well as delivery of our Republic Services disposal units. Then, they can have final plumbing and final inspections.”

Hub City Village is intended to operate as a cooperative for people who might otherwise be in danger of becoming homeless. It is modeled after successful tiny-house communities in Eugene and elsewhere.

Bartholomew pointed out that Hub City Village has no connection with Marvin’s Garden, the temporary encampment the City of Albany organized for homeless people a year ago and now, because of problems there, has decided to close.

“I assume people are connecting Marvin’s Garden with the village,” she wrote. “The two are unfortunately not connected. We don’t have any jurisdiction over the homeless camp. If we did, things would have been very different.”

She added, “Our organization was able to help a number of folks move from Marvin’s into better situations because they were in one place long enough for us to do the weeks-long process of getting people off the street. We hope the city will consider providing financial assistance to organizations like ours. With better support, we can improve this process and avoid failures due to lack of resources and oversight.”

On bike rides through that part of town, I’ve stopped at 241 Waverly now and then to check on progress of the construction. Now I’m looking forward to stopping there in coming months and seeing how this visionary enterprise works out. (hh)

Part of Hub City Village is seen from the entrance off Waverly on Saturday, June 27, 2024.