April 10, 2011 2:15 PM. 6 attended.

Eastlake Cohousing potluck/info session and site visit (Oakland)

This location is shown only to members

This group, an EBCOHO Supporting Group Member, is the farthest along in the urban East Bay on a large-scale existing-property project. Here's a chance to see the neighborhood, visit the site, and get connected with the members of the group.

Eastlake Cohousing is one of the most active core groups forming community and searching for a cohousing site in the East Bay. It is pursuing a site near Oakland's Lake Merritt, and is seeking members to join and invest.

Join them for an orientation/info session, meet the people, and find your place in this community, which is now an EBCOHO Supporting Member Group.

This meeting runs 2:15-4:15 PM, and will be preceded by a potluck.group photo


If you have questions about kids or anything else, call Jenny at [masked], or send an email by clicking on her profile to the right; children are very welcome to attend the info session with their adults.


The group has located a site, an apartment building in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood, not far from Lake Merritt, the old Parkway Theater (which people are working to re-open soon!), International Boulevard (aka East 14th Street), a flat, short bike ride from BART, with many regular and Rapid buses nearby.
This group (more background here) has been together, working to create cohousing in the East Bay for four years. Originally it planned to build cohousing condominiums in the classic "new-build" model on a small site near 51st and Telegraph in North Oakland, but it now plans to buy an apartment building. It has been looking at buildings with a cohousing-friendly design that already have tenants. Banks are more likely to finance the purchase of building with a steady income stream from rentals, making this approach feasible for the group in the current lending economy.

The plan is to acquire the property, and then members will move in as vacancies arise and continue to create community over time - gradually converting a few units to common space. New members may be current tenants or others from the community who are interested in cohousing. Come to an orientation to get the details, but current estimates are that each household will purchase a share of a corporation that will hold title to the property for around $50,000 to become an equity member, and then pay rent around $1,100 a month on a 2-bedroom apartment when they actually move in - no individual mortgage required, no additional costs. The share prices should appreciate as the group pays down the mortgage, makes improvements, and builds community.

The group has been called North Oakland Cohousing (aka NOC) because it originally came together around a site in the Temescal district of Oakland, but it has been looking in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville, and as far out Albany and El Cerrito. Some are now calling it Eastlake Cohousing, but it hasn't officially changed its name.



We'll post more about the site here (free EBCOHO/MeetUp membership and login required to view) or you can learn more directly on the group's website, listed below.

Attending an information session (RSVP with the link on this page) is the first step to joining NOC. If you have any questions you can contact North Oakland member Jenny via the "send message" button on her profile page.

  • You must be a member to post a comment. Join or login.

6 attended
5.00 5.001 (1 ratings)
  • Event Host
    Jenny Guy
    North Oakland Cohousing organizer - supporting group member
    +3 guests
Optional supporter dues

$100.00 /yr; $250 for groups/sponsors

This covers: Supporting members get event discounts, Cohousing Coaching, a book, introduction

Payment is accepted using:

  • Amazon Payments
  • Cash or check - “at meetings, tours, workshops and other events that we put on (but not at our partner events that we sometimes cross-post here).

Your organizer will refund you if:

  • Your organizer closes their Meetup Group
  • Your organizer removes or bans you from their Meetup Group

Cohousing Coaches

Our business is Planning for Sustainable Communities.

Prudence Crandall House

Coop house and informal ecovillage with neighbors on 66th Street

Folsom EcoHousing

Cohousing neighborhood of 38 green homes getting ready to build!

Janelle Orsi

Co-author of Sharing Solution guide & other legal resources.

Phoenix Commons

Senior Cohousing @ Park Street Bridge. Aging in Community Study Groups

Eastlake Coho now North Oakland Coho

Monthly Potlucks and Game Nights, orientations, fun!

Golden Gate Cohousing/Parker Street Fdtn

New Cooperative Community in the historic Oak/ville neighborhood

Cohousing California - Resource Network

Web portal to communities, openings, and trainings

Congrats Parker Street Coop

Your supporting membership means a lot to us in EBCOHO.

Yay! Triple Point Cohousing

6 households of adults and kids where Oaktown/Eville/Berkeley meet.

Bay Area Community Land Trust

Membership and advocacy for permanently affordable housing cooperatives.

Jerry Michalski/Sociate

A visionary connector of people and ideas for The Relationship Economy

Member, US Green Building Council

We are a professional member of USGBC; Raines is a LEED Green Associate.

People in this
Meetup are also in:

Log in

Not registered with us yet?

Sign up

Meetup members, Log in

or
By clicking the "Sign up using Facebook" or "Sign up" buttons above, you agree to Meetup's Terms of Service