Cooperative Housing Bulletin
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COOPERATIVE HOUSING BULLETIN October 30–November 2 A member service of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives Spring 2013 A Sample of Seattle and Washington State’s Housing Co-ops CONTENTS David J. Thompson NAHC Adopts New Mission Statement SEATTLE, WASHINGTON IS Based upon Housing A CITY OF COOPERATIVES. Cooperative’s Proven Cooperatives there can be Record traced to a strong Scandinavian immigrant population, a major 5 union presence, numerous utopian communities, and the Recent NAHC Board self-help movement from the and Executive Depression. Seattle is famous Committee Meetings for being the home of large co- 6 ops such as REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.), Group Health Seattle Site of NAHC’s Cooperative (of Puget Sound), 53rd Annual Conference People’s Memorial Association 7 and Darigold. Since the early days of Seattle, Amending Basic cooperative housing has been a Documents part of the city. It is a city where numerous utopias originated Lopez Community Land Trust (LCLT) was formed in 1989 to provide perma- • To Amend or Not nently affordable home ownership options for the island residents. LCLT owns To Amend as its early citizens looked to the land and cooperatives own the home clusters. Pictures is the solar array at • What is Out of Date in build their new world in the one of the co-ops, Common Ground (a net zero energy 11 home cooperative). FHA Co-op Bylaws west. Here’s a sampling of co-op housing in Seattle and the region. for a single room is $276, a great deal for downtown 8 Seattle. Apex Belltown was financed at the outset Apex Belltown by the National Cooperative Bank and the city of Co-ops & Energy Efficiency Seattle. It was one of the first SRO’s to be converted • Norwood Estates Apex is probably the first permanently limited into a co-op. earns high rating for equity housing cooperative in Washington State. In groundbreaking green the early 1980’s, a group of Seattle artists and their rehab project friends began to search for a shared community. Cooperative & Collective Living • NY UHAB Buildings Eventually, they purchased two floors of this former In the Seattle area there are numerous cooperative Go Green single room occupancy (SRO) hotel. It took a while living communities or group homes that are • California Co-op Saves for the organizers to revamp the derelict building. democratically governed. As this befits a college with Solar Installation In 1984, they finally moved in. There are 21 units in area, a number of them are near the University 12 the building. The residents on each of the two floors of Washington. Here’s a sample of their names; share one community lounge, two kitchens and four Alder Street Co-op, Ballistic Chicken Co- Mass Cooperators React bathrooms. There is a roof deck with beautiful views op, Bob the House Co-op, Bright Morning to Negative Legislation of Puget Sound. The approximately 25 members Star, Emma Goldman Finishing School, Fire all have required weekly work shifts and must Breathing Kangaroo House, Meridian House, 14 serve one term on the board every three years. The The Metaphorest, People’s Revolutionary Action share investment is about $2,500 and the member’s Group (Prag House), Ravenna Kibbutz, Sunset income must qualify. The monthly carrying charge House, and the Sushi Tribe among others. NAHC Continued on page 3 > COOPERATIVE HOUSING NAHC Board of Directors 2012-2013 BULLETIN Chairman Ralph Marcus President Vernon Oakes Vice President Gregory Carlson PUBLISHER: National Association of Housing Cooperatives Treasurer Linda Brockway PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Secretary Mark Shernicoff Chair: Roger Willcox [email protected] Guest Editor: Herbert H. Fisher [email protected] Directors Douglas M. Kleine [email protected] Anthony Beck Barbara Loatman Stephen Somuah Anne Sackrison [email protected] Mark Shernicoff [email protected] Richard Berendson William Magee Hope Turner HollyJo Sparks [email protected] Jackie Brown Randall Pentiuk Billie J. Walker David J. Thompson [email protected] Fred Gibbs Lewis Powell Ruthie Wilder Wendy Harshaw Alfred Reynolds R oger Willcox, NAHC Letters to the editor or the committee are welcome! Karen Harvey Norma Robinson President Emeritus Please send them to [email protected]. Anne Hill Mary Ann Rothman Kimalee Williams The Cooperative Housing Bulletin is devoted to Charlotte Lann Stephen Sarine matters of interest to a housing cooperative’s member/ shareholders. All NAHC Associations and Members should advise their memberships on how to get and download Member Associations CHBs when published. CAHC California Association of Housing Cooperatives The opinions expressed in this publication are those of CHANE Cooperative Housing Association of New England the authors and not necessarily those of the Association. This publication is distributed with the understanding CNYC Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, CSI CSI Support and Development Services accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice DVAHC Delaware Valley Association of Housing Cooperatives or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. FNYHC Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives Acceptance of advertising by the Cooperative Housing MAHC Midwest Association of Housing Cooperatives Bulletin does not imply endorsement of the product or NJFHC New Jersey Federation of Housing Cooperatives services advertised. Address inquiries, manuscripts, news items and PAHC Potomac Association of Housing Cooperatives responses to the Editor at NAHC, 1 Park Street, Norwalk, SAHC Southeast Association of Housing Cooperatives CT 0685l, phone 203-838-5706, email [email protected]. For reprint permission, advertisements and other business NAHC Principal Committees and Chairs matters contact NAHC, 1444 I Street NW, Suite 700, Audit Committee – Barbara Loatman Washington, DC 20005-6542, www.NAHC.coop. © 2013 by the National Association of Housing Executive Committee – Vernon Oakes Cooperatives ISSN 0097-9759 Development & Preservation Committee – Vernon Oakes Finance Committee – Linda Brockway Governance and Strategic Planning Committee – Ralph Marcus and Mark Shernicoff, Co-Chairs Government Relations Committee – Mary Ann Rothman Member Services Committee – Linda Brockway THE NATIONAL ANAHCSSOCIATION OF HOUSING COOPERATIVES Mutual Marketing and Advocacy Committee – Anne Hill About NAHC Publications Committee – Roger Willcox The National Association of Housing Cooperatives is a Public Relations – Vernon Oakes nonprofit national federation of housing cooperatives, Website Committee – Gregory Carlson other resident-owned or -controlled housing, professionals, organizations, and individuals interested RCM Board of Governors – Gregory Carlson in promoting cooperative housing communities. See the NAHC website – www.NAHC.coop – for addresses of Incorporated in 1960, NAHC supports the nation’s more Associations and Committees. than a million families living in cooperative housing by representing co-ops in Washington, DC, and providing education, service, and information to co-ops. About Bostrom Bostrom Corp. is the professional services firm managing the Mission Statement National Association of Housing Cooperatives affairs. Mitch Dvorak NAHC’s mission is to support and educate existing and serves as NAHC Executive Director. new cooperative housing communities as the best and 2 most economical form of homeownership. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOUSING COOPERATIVES COOPERATIVE HOUSING BULLETIN | SPRING 2013 [continued from page 1] COOPSERVATION A Sample of Seattle and Washington State’s Housing Co-ops Former Co-ops Homewood Terrace Co-op At least two co-ops financed through the HUD This 162 unit co-op was financed under the HUD 221d3 program have converted to condos; May 236 program and built in the early 1970’s. About Valley in Renton and Empire House in Seattle. 40% of the units are Section 8. The shares are set by unit size, and the share for the 3 bedroom unit Grand Old Co-ops is just over $9,000. The board of the Homewood Like most major cities in the US, there are a Co-op has traditionally been conservative in its number of cooperatives built in the early 1900’s; management. They have put away reserves to cover L’Amorita (21 units), The Chesterfield (14 units), their major costs and have no other mortgage than The Maryland (21 units), the Marquis (36 units), their last 236 loan. Due to its staged development, The Princeton (26 units), Union Terrace (31 the co-op will be paying off the last 236 loan in units), the Wayfarer Co-op (28 units) and the 2014 so there is ongoing discussion at the co-op Wilana Co-op (27 units). Most, but not all of these about what next. are market rate in prized locations. Continued on page 4 > Washington Mobile Home Park Residents Building the Cooperative-way Over the past two decades the leading housing co-op activity in Washington State has been the conversion of the ownership of mobile home parks from rental to resident ownership. There are now at least twelve resident owned mobile home park co-ops in Washington State. A key resource for the path to resident owned cooperatives has been the role of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC). NWCDC is presently assisting at least six other potential parks to go co-op. The Center is a Certified Technical Assistance Provider with the ROC USA Network. ROC is a national provider of technical assistance and financing. Parks converted to co-ops are now protecting about 700 families: Candlewood Manor (103 units) and Hidden Village Co-op (20) in Olympia; Cedar Grove (105) and James Street Estates (95) in Bellingham; Clasen Cove (45+) in Sequim; Charlton Lake Estates (15) in Tacoma; Duvall Riverside Village (25) in Duvall; Sandy Acres (35) in Buckley; Thunderbird Villa (114) in Tumwater; and Twin Cedars (72) in Federal Way. How Cedar Grove became a Resident Owned Co-op Around about 1992 the family owners of Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park in Bellingham, Washington decided to sell the park. Because the renters could not organize that quickly, on an interim basis, two of them actually stepped in to buy the park.