In June, Urban Cohousing Otepoti Ltd contracted Ehaus, a New Zealand company specialising in energy-efficient housing, to build a co-housing development on the former High Street School site.
Plans for the facility have been under way since 2013.
Urban Cohousing Otepoti Ltd group co-director Catherine Spencer said almost all the 26 units, which started at about $240,000 for a one-bedroom unit, had been sold.
Talks were also under way with a local social housing provider about the possibility of offering such accommodation to low-income families, she said.
The community would house about 60 people when it was completed.
``It will be an all-age community,'' she said. ``The more diverse the community, the more robust it is.''
At present, future occupants ranged from 3 months old to 70 years old.
On Saturday, representatives from the New Brighton Sustainable Coastal Village Project and the Viva Christchurch co-housing project attended a workshop at the High St site to discuss the future of co-housing in New Zealand.
Workshops to inform Dunedin residents about the benefits of sustainability and community offered by the development had been well attended, Ms Spencer said.
``Every workshop we've held has attracted new people, and while not all decide co-housing is right for them at this stage in life, there is increasing interest in this concept.
``People are recognising it offers an option in housing, with warm, healthy, modern houses in a sociable neighbourhood.''
The facility would offer residents private housing and outdoor spaces, coupled with shared grounds and a common-house. Such a balance would allow residents to become ``time and space rich'' as they shared possessions such as lawnmowers and washing machines and had the option of cooking together, she said.
At present the only operational co-housing community in New Zealand is in Ranui, West Auckland.
Construction of the High St facility was likely to be finished by early 2019, Ms Spencer said.
