By Tara Barauskas, Director of Housing 

A Community of Friends (ACOF) has a 36-unit project under construction in the City of La Verne called “Cedar Springs.” It’s on the campus of David & Margaret Youth and Family Services, a service organization that was founded over 100 years ago as an orphanage.  The main 17-acre campus will be the site for Cedar Springs’ four (4) residential buildings and one (1) stand alone retail building. Cedar Springs will have such amenities such as a community room with a computer lab, an outdoor picnic area and garden, and a neighborhood low-cost food and sundry shop that will be operated by David & Margaret. In addition, the project will be highly energy efficient with a goal of Net Zero energy, meaning that all consumed energy will be offset by energy generated from solar panels.

Another component of Cedar Springs will be ACOF’s first greywater reuse system: water will be captured from sinks and showers and then treated and reused to irrigate the landscape areas and flush toilets. It will save up to 900,000 gallons of water per year, in addition to saving other operating expenses. The project is being managed by Jose Torres, who is ecstatic to be leading this development, and is eager to respond to anyone who has questions about the project’s progress. Cedar Springs’ construction is set to be completed around April 2016, with continual updates posted to ACOF’s website and social media channels.