Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: making cohousing affordable

[Sophie Rubin (yophiest]

Buying existing buildings is a great idea but beware:

1) the price of existing multi family has *nothing* and I mean *nothing* to
do with current construction prices!! It has to do with income generated by
the property. Anything you build new in any jurisdiction in the US right
now will *not* be competitive against existing units.

2) tenants’ rights. I suspect this is why we have not yet seen many
existing buildings purchased for cohousing: communitarians either cannot or
will not evict current residents.  At best, this slows down the cohousing
“development” process to the speed of natural turnover.

It does seem to me like a more viable option for forming communities now,
understanding how long and how difficult new, purpose-built development is.

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 12:50 Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] att.net> wrote:

> Shane Strano wrote:
> > I'm part of NJ CoHousing ...
> After surviving the development and construction of a cohousing community
> in an inexpensive suburban area with few regulatory or neighborhood
> obstacles, the prospect of building in urban New Jersey sounds daunting to
> me. Have you considered buying an existing apartment building? Something to
> think about. Below are some random listings from LoopNet.
>
> The listings might provide clues about the cost of new construction in the
> area. There aren't a lot of ways to significantly reduce those costs.
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/9-11-Clark-St-Newark-NJ/34123353/
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/30-32-McAdoo-ave-Jersey-City-NJ/34550958/
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/70-Central-Ave-Jersey-City-NJ/34550966/
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/333-Newark-Ave-Jersey-City-NJ/27528386/
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/536-540-Central-Ave-Newark-NJ/30900638/
>
> https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15-19-Stone-Street-st-Newark-NJ/32188563/
>
> Katie HenryHeartwood Commons - TulsaTulsa, Oklahoma
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