BROOKLYN COHOUSING


a sustaining & sustainable community forming in Brooklyn, New York
Contact us at outreach@brooklyncohousing.org or (718) 374-5177. Sign up for our e-mailing list.

About Us

Coming soon.... a professional design overhaul of this website! 

WE'RE IN THE NEWS....
newpaper: Real Deal (NYC RE trade publication) article about us
newspaper: NYT article about cohousing in general
blog: treehugger article about us & our Passive House decision
newspaper: Brooklyn Daily Eagle article about latest developments (5/15/09)
radio: Interview on the Brian Lehrer radio show (12/23/08).

We are a group of people who want the option for greater community life where we live. We are creating a green sustainable community; we include families with children, single people, couples and retirees. We expect to share resources & interests (for example share child care, cook together some weekly community meals, share tools, garden together etc) while each owning our own fully equipped private apartments.
Cohousing is a nice balance between privacy and community.


 
(Coco and Caden pictured)
 
 

Over 110 cohousing communities have been built around the country and we are using proven development models. See What is cohousing and the 6 defining characteristics of cohousing on the national cohousing website.

Project Status:  The group has been meeting weekly for 24 months, and we are incorporated, have hired cohousing consultant and project manager Chris ScottHanson, plus JBS as our local project manager and "owner's rep", and as of March  2009 we have a contract on a site for our new home (more below). We have completed schematic design, and are in the process of completing Design Development (choosing fixtures, finishes, etc). We seek to have a diverse community and warmly welcome people of all ages, races, religions, and family types who share our vision and want to be part of this cohousing community. 

Process for finding out more: first come to an orientation to get answers to your questions and then if you are still interested you can observe a general meeting; more information is provided at the orientations.

Sign up for our e-mailing list to receive meeting and other announcements (link in upper right hand corner of this page)

Our Site
LATEST NEWS: Brooklyn Cohousing is pleased to announce that, on March 11, 2009 we signed a purchase and sale agreement for 1901 Eighth Avenue. Here is a pdf describing the cohousing & green features.
 
 

here's a work-in- progress sketch of our future home at 1901 8th Avenue at 19th Street. We are in the middle of a process of designing the building with our architects, Ken Levenson and Raye McDavid. We are talking about expanding our roof deck area from what is shown in this sketch (and doing planting on the parts we don't deck) and intend to maximize outdoor spaces for recreation & gardening. As currently designed, there is 4100sf of outdoor ground-level yard space including extensive vegetable garden beds (not visible here), plus another ~2400sf of roof and other common terraces. All the outdoor spaces connect by exterior stairways so that one can move from the yard up a series of terraces to the roof terrace which has views of Manhattan.
 
 
Located in the South Slope/Windsor Terrace area (PS 10 elementary school zone), this site has abundant outdoor space and 30 units of varying sizes are planned.  The 16 current Member households, together with the Associates, are now working with our development consultants on the design and construction bid processes.
Autumn in the 585 acre Prospect Park, a 7 minute walk out our front door.
 
 
Springtime in the 478 acre Greenwood Cemetery, in our backyard
 
If you are interested in the promise of cohousing in Brooklyn and want to see if it is right for you, please come to one of our orientations.

(Older news: We were gratified by the outpouring of interest in joining our group following the 11/30/08 New York Times article.  The former St. Michael's Church site was particularly well-suited to our vision, and we conducted thorough due diligence on the project, including obtaining detailed contractor bids.  Unfortunately, the total project costs came in much higher than expected and much higher than we were willing to pay in this market.  And so, after careful consideration by the 15 Member-households, we came to a consensus decision at the end of December to let that site go.  Having fallen in love with Fort Greene, we are saddened that we will not be part of that vibrant community.)

 

Our Founding Vision (August 2007)
Our vision is to create an oasis of community amid the swirling intensity of New York City, and an antidote to the isolation and impersonality of contemporary life. This will be a family-friendly, multi-generational community that is open to all ages, races, religions and family types. The community will provide for the needs of children as well as adults. The building(s) will be designed to facilitate community life while at the same time protecting people's ability to opt for privacy or sociability as desired. This will be the kind of place where neighbors help each other out, where daily life is easier and more satisfying than it would be otherwise - a supportive home environment for people engaged with the city at large.

To achieve our goals we need to design physical housing space that supports the kind of spontaneous interactions and socializing among neighbors that are integral to this kind of community. We want an apartment building with a central courtyard where children play and neighbors gather, friends talk and people sing, and where plants, trees, vegetables and flowers grow. We currently believe that a mix of 20-30 apartments of various sizes is ideal and we intend to build or modify an apartment building to house a community of this size. We are committed to doing so in Brooklyn within 2 years (by the fall of 2009). We aim to locate within walking distance of Prospect Park, in an area with good public schools, near to public transportation and shopping and services. We value the environment and will include ecologically-friendly technologies where economically feasible. We will design a beautiful building and invest in quality construction to create homes we will be proud to live in for a long time.

We are committed to a consensus process for decision-making and expect to use simple majority-rule voting only as a last resort. While we expect a community culture of shared values and practices to emerge, we will respect the individual's right to make private decisions about their own household practices. The most important common value will be that of the worth of the community itself, and the opportunity it provides to support, share, and inspire each other's lives.

Upcoming Events
 
Social Event in Prospect Park  Saturday 6/27/09, 1-5pm just inside the 15th Street entrance to Prospect Park. All are welcome to come and meet us, share some food, play some volleyball, and learn about cohousing and the people in our group.
 
Orientations are a time for project overview, questions and answers. All are welcome. After attending an orientation prospective members can come to observe a general meeting. (all locations in Brooklyn unless otherwise noted).
  • Monday, June 22nd, 7pm
    401 Atlantic at Bond, the Belarusan Church (main floor)
    children welcome
  • Monday, June 29th, 7pm
    401 Atlantic at Bond, the Belarusan Church (main floor)
    children welcome

    Sign up for our e-mailing list to receive our email news and meeting announcements (link at top of page).
 
Regular Business Meetings for the group members are held each week on Tuesday evenings. People who have been to an orientation and are interested in possibly joining our community are invited to meetings as observers. Meeting times and places are announced via our e-mailing list.
Meetings: every Tuesday evening, 6-8:30pm
where: Memorial Baptist Church,
1506 Eighth Avenue at 16th street in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
(nearest subway stop - F train at 15th street)

Children and Cohousing

Those interested in the idea of raising children in the supportive and stimulating environment of cohousing are invited to meet some of the families already involved at small group discussions to be scheduled in the next few weeks. Children will be able to play with each other while the adults chat. People who are considering having children are also invited to participate. Please contact kristi@brooklyncohousing.org for more information.

* * * * * * * *

Recent Passive House Decision: On Tuesday May 26th, after much research and due diligence by our professionals, we decided to build our building using Passive House construction techniques.

 
Recent Event - Saturday May 30th in Prospect Park at 15th St.  We celebrated our recent purchase of an old warehouse with frisbees, volleyball, music and children's games.  Visitors came to learn about cohousing and have some fun.
 
 
 

More Information on Cohousing in general
  • Audio Q&A with our Cohousing Development Manager Chris ScottHanson (audio stream will load here, archived from a 10/12/07 public talk; also available as mp3 download)
© Brooklyn Cohousing.
MEMBERSHIP IN BROOKLYN COHOUSING LLC (THE “GROUP”) INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PERSONS WHO DO NOT HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL NET WORTH OR WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE ANY MEMBERSHIP FEES THAT MAY BE PAID. NO PERSON IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING MEMBERSHIP OTHER THAN THOSE CONTAINED IN THE DOCUMENT “INVITATION FOR MEMBERSHIP” AS SAME MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME. ALTHOUGH EVERY EFFORT WILL BE MADE TO PRESENT ACCURATE INFORMATION IN THE GROUP’S EDUCATIONAL AND PUBLICITY ORIENTATIONS, PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS, EACH SUCH MATERIAL AND PROGRAM IS NOT LIKELY TO BE COMPLETE. BECAUSE THE GROUP IS AT A FORMATIVE STAGE, ITS INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS ARE NOT TO CONSTRUE THESE MATERIALS, OR ANY PRIOR OR SUBSEQUENT COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE GROUP OR ANY OF ITS MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES OR CONSULTANTS, AS LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, INVESTMENT OR TAX ADVICE. NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE INTENDED OR SHOULD BE INFERRED WITH RESPECT TO ANY PROPOSED PROJECT OF THE GROUP, THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF ANY SUCH PROJECT, OR THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ANY OFFERING REGARDING APARTMENTS IN ANY SUCH PROJECT. EACH MEMBER AND PROSPECTIVE MEMBER IS DIRECTED TO CONSULT ITS OWN ATTORNEY, ACCOUNTANT AND ADVISORS AND MAKE ITS OWN, INDEPENDENT DECISION REGARDING MEMBERSHIP IN THE GROUP.

THE ENCLOSED MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE A SALE OR OFFER TO PURCHASE REAL ESTATE WHICH CAN ONLY BE MADE BY AN OFFERING PLAN FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. NO FILING HAS YET BEEN MADE WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK HAS NOT PASSED ON OR ENDORSED THE MERITS OF THE BROOKLYN COHOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, AND ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS UNLAWFUL.

MEMBERSHIP IN THE GROUP IS NOT INTENDED TO BE AN INVESTMENT AND THE GROUP IS NOT A REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT COMPANY. NO PROFIT IS INTENDED TO BE MADE FROM MEMBERSHIP. ITS MEMBERS ARE THE OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF THE GROUP, ITS ACTIVITIES AND ANY PROJECT IT MAY UNDERTAKE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GROUP’S OPERATING AGREEMENT.

THE ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS HAVE BEEN PREPARED SOLELY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GROUP’S MEMBERS AND OF PERSONS CONSIDERING BECOMING MEMBERS. ANY REPRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THESE MATERIALS IN WHOLE OR PART, WHETHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, OR THE DIVULGENCE OF ANY OF ITS CONTENTS, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE GROUP IS PROHIBITED.