Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: New York Times article on the Rocky Corner foreclosure

[marvin berkowitz (marvinb780]

Sad story!

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 12, 2022, at 5:53 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> This is, indeed, a very sad story. 
> 
> Sharon is surely right about the overarching constructs of money, debt, 
> financing.  It’s just a shame.
> 
> I knew about this foreclosure some weeks ago.  When I first heard about it, 
> the inclination for me was to jump in to analyze what went wrong to develop a 
> strategy to prevent the from happening to other communities.  Like I really 
> knew something about what went awry having read one email about it and having 
> talked to a total of no one from the community.
> 
> What was I thinking?
> 
> What I would like to do is not Monday-morning quarter back this event. It’s 
> waaaay too complex.  Instead, I stand quietly w/ the members of this great 
> community of people.  They were … and are ... warriors.  They took on a big 
> vision. And they didn’t falter. In the face of mounting pressure to complete 
> their vision … in the vulnerability of acceptance of their fading dream … 
> talking to a reporter about their loss … they didn’t falter.  
> 
> Warriors.
> 
> Sometime when the pain has lessened a little and the circumstances 
> surrounding the disposition of the property and the circumstances of the 
> community have played out a little more … then maybe we can have a 
> conversation that might give us insights and might prove restorative to these 
> Rocky Corner heroes.
> 
> And, if they want to talk now?  I’m here.
> 
> My thoughts only.
> 
> Best —
> 
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Ex. Dir. & Mbr. Board of Directors
> Mid Atlantic Cohousing
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church, VA
> 202.546.4654
> zabaldo [at] earthlink.net
> 
> When life shuts a door, 
> Open it again.  
> It’s a DOOR. 
> That’s how they work. 
> Lilicloth catalog T-shirt Humor.
> 
> NOTE:  Please use zabaldo [at] earthlink.net for email.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 11, 2022, at 5:04 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
>> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> On Feb 11, 2022, at 3:59 PM, Steve Welzer <stevenwelzer [at] gmail.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> This article will appear in the print edition of the New York Times on
>>> Sunday (Real Estate section):
>>> 
>>> https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/realestate/connecticut-cohousing-foreclosure.html
>> 
>> This is a very sad story about a failure that was more common in the 1980s 
>> than now. This community had been under development for 11 years and had a 
>> wide array of investors. The article is a good one in that it gives a clear 
>> description of all the things that can go wrong in real estate development. 
>> It has taken the movement a long time to realize that cohousing is a real 
>> estate development. It involves land and bricks and mortar and that is 
>> hugely complicated. And it takes professionals involved from the beginning 
>> to avoid pitfalls. The work has to happen before any money changes hands. 
>> 
>> My condolences to all the Rocky Corner people. 
>> 
>> Sharon
>> ----
>> Sharon Villines
>> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
>> http://www.takomavillage.org
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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