North Oakland Cohousing

1523 and 1537 8^th Avenue

We are planning to purchase an apartment complex at 1523 and 1537 8th Avenue in Oakland. It has a friendly configuration, with all the front doors opening on a central courtyard. The courtyard is paved now, but we plan to take out the concrete and plant a garden with fruit trees, and vines growing up to the second floor balconies.

An example of a landscaped courtyard

The buildings have are 20 units: 18 two-bedrooms and two one-bedrooms. We will use one unit for our common house from the start, and members will move in whenever a vacancy arises. Within a couple of years, we'll create a larger common house.

The Neighborhood

The neighborhood is a vibrant cultural mix, including a shopping district with an Asian grocery and produce market a couple of blocks away. A new park with a bike and pedestrian path is under construction at the 12th Street end of Lake Merritt (Polishing Oakland's Crown Jewel: Lake Merritt Reborn and Lake Merritt Park Reconstruction). Lake Merritt BART station is 1.1 miles away; a 20 minute walk or a five minute ride on the 1, 1R, 11 or 62 bus.

The Asian grocery and produce market a few blocks from the site

The neighborhood playground close to the site

Finance

We plan to purchase this property as a Limited Liability Company. LLC members will be both investors in the property and renters. When a member is ready to move in they will become a tenant of the LLC.

$50,000 from a household buys you a 6% share of the property and the right to move into a 2-bedroom unit when one becomes available. The current rent for this type of unit is $1,050 per month. This amount covers all costs, including your share of construction and maintenance of the common house. (Utilities not included.) The building also includes two 1-bedroom units, available for $40,000 down and $900 a month.

Households who need more space may buy additional shares and occupy two units with an adjoining door. They can remodel, or use the space as it is. The existing layout is such that simply connecting two units would create a 4-bedroom, 2-bath home with a decent floor plan. Keep in mind though, that many cohousers are comfortable with small spaces because of the amenities in the common house.

We have no outside funding, and this is not a limited equity project; the value of your shares will go up or down with the market. Because of the high demand for cohousing in the Bay Area, we expect some increase in value once several of us have moved in and the apartment complex starts “feeling like cohousing”.

We also welcome investors who do not plan to join the community. We offer two ways to invest:

• Become a non-voting member of the LLC by buying shares at $5,000 apiece. Each $5,000 share makes you the owner of .6% (1/166th) of the $1,795,000 property. These shares will get annual dividends of 3-4%, and can be resold at market value. This is a way to invest in property that you know will be well cared for with no effort on your part, and will likely go up in value more than other properties in the area. Outside investors can also later convert their shares to community memberships.
• Hold a second mortgage on the property. The terms will a 15 year loan at 6% interest, with a balloon payoff after five years.