Cohousing-L Mailing List: Investors Needed for North Bay Area Cohousing

[Jasmine Gold (jasmine]

I am getting a group together to purchase and build a community on a 12
acre property in Penngrove (between Santa Rosa and Petaluma - an hour north
of San Francisco). It has been subdivided into 4 parcels. We
need investors ASAP as the property will be foreclosed on December 17.
Ideally you would want to live there, but non-resident investors who want
to support the dream would be wonderful too. In order to get the best
mortgage rates, we need one person to buy each lot (or one person with a
consignor or one person with silent investors).

The property is in the country and quiet, but only a few minutes from town.
The property is partially graded for a planned 4 home development of huge
homes that was never built. I would love to keep that from happening. Each
lot could have one home of any size, an attached 1200 square foot home
(ADU) and a detached 1200 square feet home (ADU). A couple could have a 500
square foot home (junior ADU). Each lot could also have a 640 square foot
"guest house" with no kitchen. This allows for 12-14 homes on the property
in clusters of 3-4. The common house will be created from among these.

We have done a lot of free exploration with the Planning Department and
other professionals. It looks feasible. The well is in place. One of the
lots already has a septic tank and leach field. The lots have been perked
for 3-5 bedrooms (which means each home would have one legal bedroom along
with offices/dens that could be converted later). Each home can have as
many bathrooms as you want. The utilities still have to be put in. Once we
get the offer in, we will need to spend at-risk money for more detailed
feasibility and operating agreements, but we would be able to back out
during the escrow period without losing our deposit.

Because of the high cost of construction, it will probably make the most
sense to build pre-fab homes.

I was one of the early members of Frogsong Cohousing in downtown Cotati,
part of its development with the Cohousing Company, and lived there for 12
years. This gives me an understanding of what it takes to build and live in
cohousing. One of the reasons I moved out 9 years ago was to have more land
around me. It is rare for property like this to come on the market.

Come join me!
Jasmine