Arataki Apartment Cooperative
Location
Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty
Stage
Shelved
Date Initiated
December 2022
Date Completed
December 2023
Housing Type
Residential Cooperative
Number of Residents
Approx. 15 adults + 6 children
Number of Dwellings
11 + Ground floor commercial space
Size of Land
809 sq.m
Developed By
Self/ group
Legal Ownership Structure
1) Nominee Company for the Partitioning Agreement;
2) Body Corporate
3) Co-operative Agreement
Individual Dwelling Tenure
Unit Titles, including shares in Commercial space (owned by Body Corp). Aspired to include Shared Equity
Funding Model/s for Development
Aimed for 30% owner equity (ie, future residents purchasing the land, then borrowing construction funds with land as security). Commercial loan offered* by Westpac, Residential Mortgage lending offered* by SBS & Westpac. (*in principle offers).
Housing Type and Numbers
3-4 levels apartments over ground floor commercial, with shared rooftop garden & amenities
Shared Facilities
Small workshop, Commercial space (mainly for commercial return to the residents/ overheads, some could be made avail for residents/ community use), bike parking & charging, EV parks, potential for shared vehicles, Rooftop garden, BBQ, covered seating area, Laundry, drying area, Rubbish & Recycling, Services, then additional subject to budget & resident voting (eg. Solar, spa pool/ sauna etc)
Total Cost in Year Completed
Estimated budget $6-8 million (including land cost)
Governance Model
Consensus, t.b.d
What were the external barriers experienced during development?
Accessing funds for preliminary work, much pro-bono to present initial concept, invite interest; Uncertainty around Resource Consent (number of dwellings that would be permitted) made it impossible to commit a group before approval; Banks resistant to a group lending scenario hence company required to develop; Complex legal structure (funded by Community Funder - multi-layered but workable within current frameworks, more work needed on tax detail, insufficient funds to proceed.
What were the internal challenges during development?
Initially strong interest, hard to keep confidence and commitment with extended time frames, budget uncertainty.
If you had your time again, would you do anything differently?
For now, just build in an affordable, commercial way, with cooperative agreements (unfortunately not legally binding over the Unit Titles) and hope for the best! Ie. Design & build for community, Approach a property developer/ investor as a group to build what we want?
What advice would you give to aspiring projects starting out?
Can you find an existing building/ homes to repurpose?
Further Information and Contacts
facebook.com/ConnectedLivingOpportunities/
Can People Contact You Directly to Ask Questions?
Yes - Bobbie Cornell - 022 8889993. REALitiArchitecture@gmail.com. // info@closer.org.nz (until Dec. 2023)
