Politicians and community members broke ground last week at a crumbling south Silver Spring building they plan to revive into the nation's second-largest "cohousing" community and one of its most environmentally friendly.

Cohousing attempts to foster community by allowing residents to share some living spaces where owners gather to cook, play or dine together. In many cohousing projects, residents also share some of the maintenance duties and help each other with child care.

That spirit was evident during the opening ceremony. Gathered in what used to be the parking lot of a U-shaped office building for the National Association of Social Workers, developers declared the official start to a $13 million project that will transform the Eastern Avenue complex into "Eastern Village Cohousing."

Construction began this week.

About 120 residents ranging in age from 20 to 82 will occupy 55 units within the development. Communal spaces include a shared kitchen, dining room, yoga and meditation room, and a rooftop garden.

The idea of cooperative living attracted future residents to Eastern Village, many of whom noted the appeal of a neighborhood feeling in an urban setting.

"We believe American culture is too isolated," said Stephan Sylvan, a future resident who will move into the village with his wife. "It feels like we're moving into a very supportive community."

The Sylvans, who are expecting a baby this October, will be the first household to join Eastern Village. Stephan Sylvan said that he and his wife are looking forward to raising their child with the help of their friends and neighbors. He added that Eastern Village reminds him and his wife of the communities where they grew up -- places where children roamed the streets without fear of crime and neighbors were more than just occupants of nearby houses.

The alternative housing project is a small dent in a larger effort to keep south Silver Spring up to speed with its downtown cousin. Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) has said that more than 1,000 new housing units will come to south Silver Spring within the next 18 months.

Developers said they were attracted to the area in part because of the nearby downtown's revitalization.

Donald E. Tucker, president of Eco Housing Corporation, one of two developers at the helm of the project, described an "urban garden" that will soon be Eastern Village at the July 2 groundbreaking. "We're going to take this parking lot and put up a paradise," he said before a crowd of excited future residents donning yellow plastic construction caps for the occasion.

Tucker is also the man behind the Takoma Village cohousing community in Takoma, D.C., a development similar to Eastern Village.

Thirty-eight units have already been locked into deals, and people are lining up to cap off the 17 more units available, said Ann Zabaldo of Eco Housing. Those residents-to-be who have already purchased portions of the building were involved in the planning process.

recommending features they would like to see in their new home and getting to know each other better.

Maria Traintis, who today lives in Potomac, said she is hoping a hot tub will be installed on the rooftop garden.

Traintis calls herself an "empty-nester"-- her only daughter went off to college for the first time this year -- who stumbled upon the cohousing community by chance.

"I was looking for a condo, and what I got was a community," she said.

Traintis grew up in Silver Spring. She remembers going to the original Silver Theatre downtown, and her grandmother's house is only a few blocks from Eastern Village.

Other future residents include a former federal court judge and an energy-efficiency expert.

Glenn Chinery, the energy expert, said Eastern Village will consume between 30 and 50 percent less energy than standard residential buildings. A geothermal heating system that extracts heat from the ground rather than the surrounding air increases efficiency, as do tight insulation, a recycling and composting program, and the "green roof," which will keep the building cool during the summer.

Proximity to the Silver Spring Metro Station also makes community members' commutes more energy-efficient.

Residents are expected to move in within by late next summer or early fall.

BB&T Bank and Fannie Mae as well as the two developers--Eco Housing and Martin Poretsky, president of Poretsky Building Group--footed the million-dollar loans.