Hello there, 

Good morning and happy Tuesday. 

We’re excited to announce BIG is hiring!  Are you an inspired connector motivated to transform California’s housing system to work better for people and the natural environment? Apply to be BIG’s Network Stewardship Associate, or share this job opportunity with your community.

Below, learn more about co-ops and get the latest updates on BIG’s initiatives — including a feature article in Berkeley Built! 

Sincerely,

Deepti Hossain

Digital Communications Manager

BIG SPOTLIGHT: Co-ops

Securing resources to develop co-ops is a different process compared to other housing projects — so we asked west coast co-op professionals to share their experiences and answer questions during our recent learning session. While we work to normalize co-ops in California, sharing information and connecting our network with experts from other places is a vital part of BIG’s co-op initiative. 

Thanks to our presenters:

• Josh Morrison, Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer of Frolic
• Tamara Knox, CEO, Co-founder of Frolic
• Andrew Heben, Project Director of SquareOne Villages
• Jeff Albanese, Program Director of SquareOne Villages

Here are three key questions that our co-op initiative members asked during the session. Look for the lightbulb icon for key takeaways and additional information. To learn more, check out our full blog at the link below.

1. What are the key factors that make a housing co-op development successful?

• Staffing capacity
• Education for residents and ongoing support 
• Relationships with individual homeowners, local community
• Permitting 
• Financing, like conventional lending or equity investment 
• Community land trusts 
• Thoughtful management plan - choosing between self management versus outside property managers depending on the co-op’s size and needs

💡 “Due to the fact that cooperatives are so unfamiliar on the west coast, there aren’t really a lot of existing organizations to partner with, to supply some of these services, so we really had to do a lot of it ourselves,” says Andrew. SquareOne is developing and streamlining training and support to set up cooperatives for success. 

💡 Consider churches in your local community as a potential resource. Several churches with excess land have reached out to SquareOne to build housing co-ops.

2. What is essential to consider when trying to build housing co-ops equitably? 

It’s important to have architects who understand community design and stakeholders who understand all of the elements of the co-op from finances to social aspects to the legal landscape.

3. What does the finance, or capital stack look like for developing a new co-op? 

SquareOne is operating on a community land trust model, where they acquire land and act as developer. They retain land ownership to maintain permanent affordability and provide ongoing support to co-ops. Their capital stack depends on the population they’re serving, where the projects range from 50 to 80 percent area median income (AMI). 

A resident’s up front cost to maintain membership of the co-op, called share purchase buy, depends on how many residents are a part of the co-op. 

For example, SquareOne’s Peace Village Co-op included a $5000 share purchase, which served 30 to 50 percent AMI. Their C Street Co-op was a $20,000 share purchase, serving 60 to 80 percent AMI. 

💡 Flexible lenders are helpful for residents. 

💡 During this learning session and BIG’s recent blog, Óscar from SOMOS Mayfair noted that finding a developer for their 20 to 30 unit project in San José has been difficult as developers are generally used to larger 100+ unit developments. 

💡 This learning session unveiled a key opportunity to advance co-ops in California by: enabling share loan purchases.  If you have experience or ideas to advance this reality, email jlow@builditgreen.org. 

BIG UPDATES

🏘️ Middle Income housing initiative: Attend our upcoming virtual event about middle incoming housing and decarbonization, an exploration of two truths – our state’s lack of middle income housing and California’s commitment to decarbonization. Speakers Srinidhi Sampath Kumar from RMI, Sarah Karlinsky from SPUR, Mark Hall from Revalue.io, and Curt Johansen from Triad Communities will join to share their experiences. Register and learn more. 

🏗️ Small Developers and Builders initiative: BIG’s program manager, Devani Santos, wrote in Berkeley Built about the importance of investing in and including people from historically neglected communities in California’s housing workforce. Share the article with your network.

👥 Co-ops initiative: Members formed financial and legislative speciality groups to dive deeper into ways to expand equitable co-ops across California. The group is coordinating a learning session centered on community engagement. 

💧 Infrastructure initiative: This initiative prioritizes infrastructure upgrades so that more housing can be developed in high needs communities. The group is planning what this program will look like for the next two to three years. 

⚡ POWER initiative: The group recently held dialogues with contractors at the forefront of electrification to discuss practices to add electrical appliances to the house without burdening the electrical panel.     

☀️ Regenerative Pilots initiative: BIG is developing an editorial story highlighting Californians working to reconstruct Greenville. Stay tuned for the feature. If you would like to collaborate, contact dhossain@builditgreen.org.