Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: C2pattee (C2patteeaol.com) | |
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 22:37:01 -0600 (MDT) |
shelly and i are in the same group, greater hartford cohousing, but i'm replying from beautiful washington state, where i'm doing two things - listening to the seattle opera's presentation of wagner's ring cycle, and visiting as many of this area's fascinating cohousing communities as i can get to. my feeling on this is that we should hire the 'unnamed developer' to be the middle man that Margaret Weatherly <martiew [at] earthlink.net so eloquently described. he and his partner (think savvy, sensitive men living in an established cohousing community in new england)are, i feel, just what we need to look out for our best interests. i also feel that the laboror is worthy of his hire, and wish we could get a fair payment rate established. christine pattee > From: "Shelly Demeo" <shelldemeo [at] home.com> > > Two quick questions.. > > 1. Has anyone been in this situation where they had to not continue = > with a development consultant and self develop and instead went with a = > developer? Is there a WIN/WIN scenario out there for having a cohousing = > professional and developer? > > 2. If we choose to work with this developer, who would negotiate for us = > from a "cohousing" perspective? Our lawyer? > > It seems scary doing this without our consultant there holding our = > hands...but to have a local developer wanting to do our project and = > showing us a good site seems like something we should explore further. =20 > > Thanks again for input. > > Shelly DeMeo > Greater Hartford Cohousing > From: Margaret Weatherly <martiew [at] earthlink.net> > To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org > A couple of quick responses: > I am a member of Liberty Village in Maryland, where we are developing > our community ourselves, and have been closely involved with Takoma > Village, where they worked with a developer. > > Regardless of how you develop it, you will have to have someone "in the > middle" representing the interests of the cohousing group to the > developer. This would never be your lawyer. Takoma Village had a > consultant working between the group and the developer. In our case, our > architect is a partner and is the person between us and the builder. > > This person will always be pushed from both sides, to represent the > cohousing group to the developer and to make the project work for the > developer. It seems that profit margin is always a problem when building > cohousing, because what the group wants always costs more money. It > seems to me that that tension will always be there. > > So you have to have someone representing the group to the > developer/builder and vice versa. You may need to pay someone to do > this, and it needs to be someone who knows cohousing and the development > process. Also, if you are developing yourself, you have to have someone > who knows the development regulations, the government, zoning issues, > etc. This has taken a long time for us and has its good and bad sides. > > Secondly, you will be setting up the development process in whichever > way you choose, but you must also pay attention to creating relationship > in your group and working on group cohesiveness, facilitation, meeting > norms and consensus. This is the heart of cohousing. You may need to > hire people who can train you in these areas. This is just as important > as getting the houses built, because it is what we are building it for. > Development is a challenging, rocky road and your group needs to grow > together during the process. This has been the advantage for us in our > long development process. > > Thirdly, I would look very carefully at any professional relationship > where someone is giving you services for free, because it is hard not to > have strings attached that get in the way of a clear business > relationship. Remember, you are a company building a community and you > should always look at your actions and see if they are consistent with > sound business practices. > > Glad to talk to you privately if you have any other questions. > > I am moving into my house in two months, and it has all been well worth > it! Martie Weatherly, Liberty Village > martiew [at] earthlink.net > > > > > Shelly Demeo wrote: > > > > hello-- > > > > There is a non-profit developer that has been interested in our group > > for a while and took me for a drive the other day and showed me a > > piece of property he has. The group is excited about the location and > > the site would be ideal. > > > > He develops mostly senior housing in the non-profit and for profit > > sector. He also works for Community Renewal Team, an anti-poverty > > agency in Hartford part-time in developing housing for them. He used > > to work for a huge development firm here in CT called Konover. Within > > the last year, he started his own non-profit development corp. > > > > We have actually known this developer for a while (whose name is > > Shelly too). Early on, we hired a cohousing development consultant > > for a four month/10,000K contract to help us focus on cohousing > > development, do pro forma, narrow towns, evalute sites, etc. He > > helped us a lot and is a great person. Our group likes him a lot. He > > is also a builder and the group was definitely thinking of him > > building the project. > > > > During the four month contract period, our cohousing consultant met > > with Shelly (the developer) to see if Konover would develop our > > project. Nobody from the group was at that meeting, but the gyst of > > it was that the profit margin was too low. This meeting happened > > about a year ago. Our group was disappointed. > > > > Well, basically the contract ended six months ago and our cohousing > > consultant is still investigating land pieces that the group brings to > > him. He says that he likes this work and he wants to continue doing > > it for free. We haven't been too successful in finding anything. MLS > > stuff is not great and overpriced. I personally am feeling a sense of > > growing obligation because of the work he has been doing. > > > > Now we are in a situation where we have a piece of land that the group > > is excited about, a developer who has seen our pro forma that wants to > > develop our cohousing community on this site...BUT he is saying the > > profit margin is too low to have the cohousing consultant AND him > > involved. He also wants to build it modular so having our consultant > > build the project might not work. > > > > Two quick questions.. > > > > 1. Has anyone been in this situation where they had to not continue > > with a development consultant and self develop and instead went with a > > developer? Is there a WIN/WIN scenario out there for having a > > cohousing professional and developer? > > > > 2. If we choose to work with this developer, who would negotiate for > > us from a "cohousing" perspective? Our lawyer? > > > > It seems scary doing this without our consultant there holding our > > hands...but to have a local developer wanting to do our project and > > showing us a good site seems like something we should explore > > further. > > > > Thanks again for input. > > > > Shelly DeMeo > > Greater Hartford Cohousing > > > > > > > > --__--__-- > _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
- RE: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site, (continued)
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RE: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Eileen McCourt, August 7 2001
- Re: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Sharon Villines, August 8 2001
- Re:Working with developer or using dev.consultants/possible site Peter Scott, August 8 2001
- Re: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Margaret Weatherly, August 8 2001
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RE: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Eileen McCourt, August 7 2001
- Re: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Sharon Villines, August 9 2001
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Re: Working with developer or using dev. consultants/possible site Sharon Villines, August 9 2001
- Re: Working with developer or using dev.consultants/possible site Margaret Weatherly, August 9 2001
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