Berkeley Cohousing, on Sacramento Street in the West Berkeley neighborhood (zip code 94702) near Strawberry Creek, was a family farm dating back to near 1900, with a farmer’s daughter’s cottage added. When the Coop Supermarket (formerly Andronico’s) on University Avenue was built in the 1950s, several small houses were moved to the property, and rented out.
Berkeley Cohousing now consists of 15 units (14 plus one “associate member” household nextdoor) — mainly cottages and duplexes — scattered around a green, that also helps filter and buffer runoff from the parking lot on rooftops.
The group has a “limited equity” arrangement with the city that limits price appreciation to area median income growth plus capital improvements, for 30 years from each resale; buyers have to earn less than 120 or 150 percent of area median income. As a result, prices are now around 50 percent below market, and turnover is very low, running about 1 unit resold every 8-10 years; the seller can select the buyer, subject to the above restrictions.
