June 15—BEMIDJI — A new housing project is coming to Bemidji, one that promises to provide a vibrant lifestyle and a way for residents 55 and older to stay in their community as they age.
Gracewin Cooperatives recently received approval for a 41-unit senior living co-op plan that the company hopes will bring Bemidji a model of living that combines the benefits of homeownership and a close-knit community with a maintenance-free lifestyle.
While senior living co-ops are common in metropolitan areas like the Twin Cities, Gracewin shared his commitment to providing the same opportunities to the aging population in greater Minnesota. It has already opened a senior living co-op in Baxter, Minnesota, and is in the process of opening a second in Northfield, Minnesota.
“We are excited. This type of housing is unique and something that is mainly reserved for people who live in cities,” explains Lisa Anteau, head of sales and marketing at Gracewin. “It’s really a great model where seniors can come together and have a good, safe place to live as they get older.”
The three-story senior living co-op will be built in the southern part of the city, not far from the shores of Lake Irving, and will feature a wide range of amenities, including heated underground parking, a community room, an outdoor patio and even a wood shop.
And like owning a home, living in a co-op offers similar security and benefits, said Nate Anderson, Gracewin’s director of operations.
“Just like purchasing a home, you gain equity when you live there, at a rate of 1, 2, even up to 3% in a limited equity model,” Anderson said. “It’s a safe way to invest your money.”
Anteau explained that residents purchase a share of the co-op that is considered personal property and not real estate. It gives them exclusive rights to their own unit and community ownership of the rest of the building.
“An important part of cooperatives is that they are 100% owned by the members who buy into them,” she says. “(Residents) live in their units, and they have exclusive rights to that, but they are co-owners of the building: every piece of furniture, every plate will be owned by our members.”
For Anteau and Anderson, this arrangement provides residents with security and an investment in their community, something they explained is integral to cooperative living.
“It’s about building community,” Anteau said. “It’s very easy to step out and have coffee with your neighbors or enjoy the amenities. That’s what it was designed for.”
During development, Anteau explained that generating community interest is critical. With the current project in Bemidji, Gracewin hopes to achieve 50% occupancy before the project starts.
The process of joining a co-op includes a $500 reservation deposit, which is fully refundable at any time and comes with an assigned priority number. The number determines the order of unit selection and later the order of notification when a unit becomes available.
“Once you get to the top of the list, basically every time something opens in the co-op you get a notification and you have the opportunity to purchase that unit,” Anteau said. “People may say, ‘I’m not ready to move in yet, I want to stay at the lake for a few more years,’ but the important thing is to get in line early.”
Anderson explained that a senior living cooperative is designed to benefit not only the residents, but also the broader community.
This is done partly by offering older citizens a way to stay close to where they live, but also by opening up homes when residents move into the building.
“When you get people to live in a co-op, it opens up housing across the (housing) spectrum,” he said.
If someone living in an expensive lakefront property decides to move to the co-op, their home could go on the market and become available for purchase by someone living in a more modest home, and so on.
“It’s a chain reaction, all the way to the apartments,” Anderson said. “Maybe there is someone who has only rented and now has the opportunity to purchase a starter home and begin their ownership journey.”
Living cooperatives are also designed to remain affordable, while still building value for their owners, through the use of the limited share model.
Instead of the large increases in value possible in real estate, the steady growth that co-ops enjoy keeps them from becoming unaffordable for new buyers. This also helps keep demand high, making the model sustainable for decades.
“Cooperatives have been around since the late 1970s,” says Anteau. “The very first senior living cooperative was developed in Minnesota and is still vibrant and thriving.”
More information about Gracewin Cooperatives and its project in Bemidji can be found on its website
gracewinliving.com
.
