The City of Asheville’s Community and Economic Development Department is presenting the second session of its public Permanently Affordable Homeownership Solutions series, focusing on housing cooperatives. The event will be held at 6 p.m. on May 4 in Room 109 at the City’s Public Works building (161 S. Charlotte Street).
A housing cooperative is a form of shared home ownership. Residents of a housing cooperative each own shares in a corporation that owns the real estate. This provides them with shared control — members regularly elect a board, and each shareholder gets to vote. These shareholders hold proprietary leases with the co-op that enables them to occupy their specific unit.
Speaking at this session will be Andy Reichert (Executive Director) and Alex Roesch (Project Associate) of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB). UHAB is the leading technical assistance provider for the start-up and support of “limited-equity” housing cooperatives in the U.S. Limited-Equity Cooperative housing is a nationally established model for creating lasting affordable housing and preserving existing communities. Additional speakers include Andrea Golden (staff at the Center for Participatory Change and founding member of the Dolce Lomita Mobile Home Cooperative) and Tyran Hill (Local and Regional Policy Officer) of the North Carolina Housing Coalition.
After presentations from speakers, the audience will be invited to participate in a follow-up discussion and Q&A session. Light refreshments, child-care, and Spanish language translation will be available at this meeting. If you plan to attend, we encourage you to RSVP at Facebook.com/CityofAsheville/Events.
The third meeting in the series will be held on May 18. This session will bring together community members interested in exploring the establishment of a Community Land Trust or Limited Equity Housing Cooperative in Asheville. The session will be facilitated by John Emmaus Davis, a principal in Burlington Associates in Community Development. Davis is an internationally recognized expert in permanently affordable housing. Burlington Associates was also one of the principal authors of the “Alternatives to Gentrification in Asheville” report, issued in June 2014. More details will be announced soon.
