Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohos in NY State [was: Site Finances and NYS question

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Linda <treehouse [at] netstep.net>
is the author of the message below.
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
after deleting the rest of a quoted digest and tweaking subject.
--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Dear Sharilyn,

We are the group Sharon mentioned which is creating a cohousing community in
Rosendale, NY, near Kingston. Yes, there are definitely regulatory issues
specific to NY State, which rigorously controls real estate development.
They arise from the Attorney General¹s office. They are designed to protect
the consumer from buying a swamp or whatever. We must present all materials
describing the project ­ drawings, costs, budget, by-laws, etc.  - to the AG
to be approved (which takes 6-9 mos, we¹re told). Once approved, we can make
a Public Offering, when buyers can sign a contract and put their down
payment into escrow. We can¹t use that money for development. Prior to the
Public Offering, we are now involved in our ³Testing the Market² phase,
during which we can hold open meetings, advertise, put up flyers, put up a
web site. All materials used in this process have to be submitted to the AG
for approval prior to beginning the TtM phase. It lasts approx. 4-6 mo.

The biggest problem is that we can¹t take any money from prospective
residents to use for development. There¹s more to it which I¹d be happy to
share. An attorney in Ithaca did the Offering Plan for EcoVillage Ithaca,
and knows a lot about it, and has been advising us: Elena Salerno Flash ­
esf [at] millermayer.com.

Hang in there, it can be done-
Linda Gluck
Ulster County Cohousing in Rosendale
treehouse [at] netstep.net