Cohousing-L Mailing List: LLC vs co-op (i.e., "ownership structures")

[gary (gary]

I recently joined the list-serv and have been following with interest
discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of various legal
structures for organizing cohousing communities.  I am currently
developing a "green" residential community at Lake of the Ozarks in
central Missouri to be called The Woodland Community (see
"www.thewoodlandcommunity.com") and am thinking about facilitating
development of a cohousing community on a portion of the 72 acre
property.

While the web site mentioned above describes the residential portions of
The Woodland Community being developed by a for profit corporation on a
private ownership model where individiuals would purchases their own
lots on which to build homes, I have recently been introduced to
"community land trusts" (CLTs) as democratically and environmentally
repsonsible ways to organize communities and am thinking about using
this organizational vehicle. In a CLT, the land is owned by a nonprofit
organization (the CLT) and lots are leased on a permanent basis to
individuals, typically for 99 years after which they can be renewed. 
Because leases are permanent and can be passed on through inheritance
or sold to others, the lots acquire security/equity that allows
leaseholders to borrow money to build on them, that is, to obtain
pesonal mortgages for home construction.  Although homes are owned
privately, the land as a whole is governed/managed by its leaseholding
members through a set of by-laws they adopt and a Board of Trustees
they elect.  In a real sense, the land is owned and stewarded
collectively.  Is anyone aware of cohousing communities that have been
organized as CLTs?  If so, how have they fared?

I am also interested in exploring whether there may be a market for a
cohousing community targeting individuals or families interested in
building second homes (i.e., vacation and/or retirement homes) located
within weekend communing distance of where they live.  In the case of
The Woodland Community, this would include people living in the St.
Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas and many others living even
closer to the lake, for example, in Jefferson City and Columbia.  What
do readers think about the prospects for a cohousing community aimed at
this audience, perhaps in conjunction with permanent local residents
working in the area?

I look forward to responses to both sets of questions.




Gary A. Storm
Founder
The Woodland Community
Sunrise Beach, MO
Gary [at] thewoodlandcommunity.com
+ 1 (217) 367-0879