Busting the Myths of Cooperatives

As printed in the Northfield News, March 19, 2025 Housing co-op seeks final seniors to break ground on Northfield building By COLTON KEMP colton.kemp@apgsomn.com Those living in or around Northfield at or above the age of 55 can downsize while maintaining equity on a property by becoming a member of a prospective housing cooperative near the hospital west of Northfield. Gracewin Cooperative secured the purchase agreement for the land. It intends to construct a new residential building with 47 living units, underground and heated parking and a myriad of other amenities. By paying into one of the flexible buy-in options, people become shareholders of the co-op. The monthly payment on their unit is determined by how much is paid for the share purchase, as well as the size of the unit. There are eight different floor plans, ranging from about 1,000 square feet to about 1,400 square feet. All options have a balcony or patio, and an in-unit washer and dryer. Shares range from about $150,000 to $400,000, while monthly fees range from $1,200 to about $2,700. The more paid for the share, the lower the monthly payment. Gracewin Living Cooperatives Head of Sales and Marketing Lisa Anteau explained that being a shareholder in the co-op makes someone a member, meaning they own a piece of the building and the land. They also earn a flat 2% equity on their share. “This is bigger than you just owning, like, Unit 205,” she said. “This is you owning a share of Gracewin Cooperative. So that means the land, the building, the overall building itself and every piece of furniture in the building. Then they get an exclusive right to occupy one of the units as a member.” Once folks are bought in, they pay a monthly fee to cover all the expenses of the building, like maintenance, property insurance, sewer, water, gas, wireless internet, taxes and more. Electricity, cable, a landline and personal-contents insurance are the only things not included in the monthly fee. At Gracewin Cooperative, the planned amenities are extensive, ranging from a wood shop and car wash in the underground garage to a speakeasy and the owner’s lounge on an upper level. The monthly fee guarantees free access to all amenities, except for renting the fully staffed guest suite, which is $50 per night. The co-op allows pets. There are trash chutes on every floor, so residents don’t need to climb stairs to access the dumpsters. Everything is ADA-compliant, another key aspect to the co-op. Gracewin Living Cooperatives is the developer overseeing the project until they can get the ball rolling. The company hires all the initial contractors for things like lawn care and snow removal, as well as the property management. Until the building has reached 70% occupancy, the Gracewin Living Cooperatives team serves as the interim board of directors for the building. Once the threshold is reached, elections are held among the residents. “That’s very important, because then the people making the decisions on behalf of the co-op are subject to those decisions,” Anteau said. “They’re thinking about things like, ‘Do we put this in our budget?’ or ‘Do we need this?’ or ‘How much do we have to increase rates because costs have increased?’ They’re subject to all of those things themselves.” Filling a gap Only one other example of senior housing in Northfield uses the co-op model, Kildahl Park Pointe. Melisa Hanson, the housing coordinator for the city of Northfield, reported that there’s a long waiting list there, leaving “a huge gap” in the market. “What we’re seeing is folks are trying to age in place,” Hansen said. “So they’re putting their money in those [ADA] supports, but then the foundation isn’t getting addressed, the chimneys aren’t getting addressed, the windows, etc. Then we’re finding that type of maintenance gets deferred. When a young family comes to buy the home, oftentimes they don’t have the skills to do the repairs themselves. They certainly don’t have a lot of the money either.” Once an interested party pays a refundable $500 deposit with their reservation, they are added to a waitlist, which determines the order units are selected. Anteau said they need 24 people ready to move in to break ground, which she hopes will be this fall. “We know not everybody is going to be ready to move in on day one,” she said. Anteau went on to explain that, once they have three times the amount needed to break ground, they reach out to the first person on the waitlist and work their way down the list. If they have 24 people who say they’re ready to move in, construction can begin. She also said Gracewin Cooperative is not an assisted-living facility, but a place to retire and downsize for those stuck in a non-ADA-compliant, 4,000-square-foot home as an empty nester or some similar situation. Northfield resident Charlie Kyte said he and his dog, Sophie, have been living in a house much too large for just the two of them. He is among those already on the waitlist at Gracewin. “The fact that all my needs can be met at Gracewin is very attractive to me,” he said. “At first I thought the [share-purchase] fee seemed high. Then, I realized it included all property taxes and most of the needed property insurance, plus all the other costs of owning a house, which made it actually a good deal.” Martha Easter-Wells is also on the priority list at Gracewin, due to her love for Northfield and desire to stay in the community. “By signing onto the waiting list early, I will have a nice choice of apartments,” she said. “I went to see the Gracewin in Baxter and was impressed by the design and construction. There are a lot of nice features, both in the apartments and in the common areas.” MORE INFO For more information on the Gracewin Cooperative Northfield project, attend one of the in-person informational sessions at 3 p.m. March 27 at the Edina Senior Center , at 5280 Grandview Square in Edina, or the next local meeting is at 3 p.m. April 23 at the Gracewin sales office , at 2018 Jefferson Road, Suite I (the letter, I). Todd Metoxen, Gracewin Northfield’s local sales consultant, has office hours at the same office on Jefferson Road from 10-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Tuesdays he is there 10-1 p.m. He’s also available Saturdays by appointment, and interested parties can reach him at Todd@GracewinLiving.com or 507-222-8960.

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