Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Looking for advice on terms with developer

[Stuart Joseph (stuart]

Sharon,
You bring up valid concerns, which would also apply to any developer we 
get involved with.

I would recommend that whether the person is for "profit" or 
"non-profit," they should be checked out with references, Chamber of 
Commerce, Better Business Bureau, and go talk to residents of past 
developments and get their experiences, both recent and older projects, 
that way you will find out what happened right after the project was 
built and what developed over time. they will also know what happened 
with their neighbors as well.

I would also have your lawyer draw up the contracts between the group 
and the development- don't be quick to sign a "standard" contract 
presented by the developer.

Sharon Villines wrote:
> On Oct 28, 2006, at 9:25 AM, Z. Peter Lazar wrote:
>   
> > Blue Ridge Cohousing (BRC) of Charlottesville, Virginia is beginning to
> > work out a Letter of Intent with a nonprofit developer.  BRC and the
> > developer have been talking for quite some time and there is a lot of
> > goodwill.  BRC and developer want to share both the financial risks and
> > rewards.
> >     
>
> The reasons to use a developer are to have (1) access to their 
> professional expertise and (2) their financial leverage.
>
> You need to be sure that "nonprofit" does not mean "not responsible." I 
> have no idea who your nonprofit developer is so this is not a personal 
> reflection on a specific person or company. "Nonprofit" also does not 
> mean that that the developer is not making very bit as much "profit" as 
> a "regular" developer would be receiving. It just means  the income is 
> paid as a salary rather than as what is leftover when all the bills are 
> paid.
>
> The word "nonprofit" and "profit" have come to be so emotion ladened 
> that we too often assume that "nonprofit" means something very 
> different than just an IRS designation. It is also understandable that 
> there is a lot of goodwill because there has been nothing yet to result 
> in illwill.
>
> When it turns out that your foundation wasn't poured correctly and is 
> deteriorating, who is liable? When the construction company doesn't 
> schedule the subcontractors properly and delays are costing you $1000 a 
> day, who pays? Who ultimately fixes the problem? Who deals with the 
> inevitable emergencies like when the city drawings showing where the 
> storm sewers are turn out to be wrong and you are paying $500 an hour 
> just for the digging machine to sit there while you decide what to do? 
> Are these costs you are willing to share even you can't do anything to 
> avoid incurring them?
>
> What are your gains from this arrangement compared with using a 
> traditional cohousing developer?
>
> Sharon
> -----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
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--
Stuart Joseph, 802-463-1954
Project Director
Caer Coburn, a traditional village based upon  and intentional communities
Rockingham, Vermont, USA
http://www.caercoburn.org