Eli Spevak on Building Climate-Friendly, Community-Oriented Housing—and Changing the Rules on Housing

Zola welcomes Eli Spevak of Orange Splot, Portland, Oregon developer-builder-advisor, who treats development as a mission by paying himself less and reinvesting in community features like common houses and public artwork. Eli argues “housing policy is climate policy,” emphasizing smaller homes, more homes per lot, and “missing middle” housing as both greener and more affordable. He describes policy work that made Portland’s rules more predictable and enabled by-right ADUs, tiny homes on wheels, and up to four homes per lot, plus reforms to occupancy rules. Eli explains partnering with community land trusts to keep some homes permanently affordable through long-term deed restrictions, even within condominium/unit-title projects, sometimes using public funds to buy down prices. They discuss cohousing design elements, gardening, limits on customization, conflict management, and advice for aspiring communities: start small, secure land early, and ensure strong development and finance expertise. 04:08 Support the Show's PledgeMe fundraiser 05:12 Tiny Home for Sale 07:43 Interview with Eli Begins 10:21 Defining Homefulness 12:09 From Habitat to Developer 14:13 Mission Driven Development 17:15 Changing the Rules 19:17 Legalizing Small Homes 27:30 Cohousing Design Essentials 30:37 Designing Privacy Outdoors 30:59 Preserving Site Character 31:29 Angles and Color Variety 32:13 Tenure Models and Experiments 32:28 Gardens and Shared Harvests 33:45 Why Renters Need Gardens 34:32 Unit Titles and Condos 35:39 Land Trust Affordability Tools 39:03 Developer Challenges and Presales 41:16 Training for Community Conflict 44:16 Right Sizing the Community 45:01 Advice for New Communities 48:02 Building a Lean Team 50:34 Planning Education and Fellowship 53:01 Start Small and Scale Up Links: PledgeMe Homefullness Show fundraiser: https://pledgeme.co.nz/projects/9165-homefullness-fund-a-year-of-affordable-collective-regenerative-housing-stories-that-build-a-movement Orange Splot: https://www.orangesplot.net/ Zola's tiny home specs with photos and details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qL0viFYhq63WgXUUszKFBm0Dc5-1lp0z/view?usp=sharing