The vanguard Integration Center project is of course the most complicated one, as it is navigating uncharted territory. Work began on parcel selection before the concept was even well-developed; and the project also hit numerous unexpected pitfalls as lessons were learned. So this process has been ongoing for a few years. Those early hurdles helped refine the process so it will be easier for others.
This first project is in the process of acquiring land that is accessible to New York City, in the United States. As the project was developing, we had made moves to buy four different parcels in the area, each of which fell through for different reasons. Learning from those mistakes, the project is now in a much better place to move forward in 2026.
Current Status
As of March 2026, we are still in the parcel-acquisition process. Funding is in place. We have two potentially-suitable parcels that need to be evaluated. Mostly, we are just waiting for the snow to melt, which we expect to happen in the first half of March. The top candidate is over seventy acres and has potentially-favorable zoning.
If all goes well with this top candidate, we plan to have it purchased by summer. This will be the fifth parcel we’ve placed an offer on, but many lessons were learned from the previous attempts. The process should go much more smoothly this time.
Lessons Learned
The open business plan has been updated regularly as we continue to learn more and refine the approach. Below are a few additional or notable things we have learned along the way.
Commercial Farm
To help blaze a path forward, the first project is somewhat-intentionally being started in a place where zoning laws are particularly tricky to navigate.
One route we have been pursuing is to buy agricultural land and start a commercial farm. The retreat center would be oriented to providing “farm-stay retreats,” which are sometimes recognized as legitimate agribusiness operations of a farm. The Partner and Colleague members would be employees of the farm, because farms are often allowed to house their employees on-site.
Single-Family Home
Some localities’ zoning laws require that a rural parcel only have one single-family home on it. Some of those localities define “family” as a “single housekeeping unit,” meaning that the members of the household maintain the house and their meals as a unified group.
This definition fits surprisingly well with the Integration Center cohousing model, and we are considering proposing that a large cohousing building qualifies as a single-family home.
Parcel Selection
Having started as something we were just “looking into” in 2022, the early parcel-identification process went slowly. There was much to learn about what locations to look in, what kinds of parcels to look for, what locality-restrictions to look out for, what natural features to be observant of, and so on.
We have had accepted offers on four parcels, but each one fell through for different reasons. Many lessons were leaned in those failures. Much of that learning has been collected on the Evaluating Parcels page.
Privilege
Designing and building this project has been enabled by multiple layers of privilege, and part of the process has been learning about and acknowledging those privileges. That process has shaped the business plan, which leverages existing privilege in order to diminish its power.
A lot of that privilege gets summed up into money. And some money is needed to start this project; from the initiators and/or from donors.
Accumulating money usually comes from leveraging privilege. The Integration Center Model is for people who look at the cost of the privileges they have benefitted from and who recognize the cost to the environment and to other people.
It provides a way for people to spend that privilege-fostered money in a way that removes privilege and yet also helps secure their own future in a way that traditional financial investment cannot.
Community Health
In late 2023, while in the process of writing a contract on the second parcel we had identified; our community broke apart. The two issues were mostly unrelated; but the obvious lesson was that the project had to be much more concerned with health from the very outset, as our first priority.
We had to be more healthy within ourselves; which became the focus for a while. That process lead to the development of the Colleague Member Curriculum, which entails a variety of modalities of healing administered by outside professionals. All people who live at the first Integration Center as Colleague or early Partner members will need to complete this curriculum.
This solution is not a sure one, and we will be evaluating how it helps. But we believe the fact that we will all be committing to our own personal growth in a variety of modalities gives us a good basis for forming a healthy community.
Join Project 1
If you would like to communicate about working on building this particular Integration Center with us, use the contact address for this site.
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Further reading: About the Integration Center Project