I actually didn’t catch much as it was in Flemish mostly… but I have a few notes so will coordinate with @Sophie_Beese if you’re also happy to write up something?
Here is what I remember (and understood in Dutch):
Nice info: Anne distributed the Reef flyers about the info session to everyone
Main message: be realistic, not a lot of land left in Brussels, think more in terms of Courouble than Tivoli. At Tivoli, they were incredibly lucky to get a piece of empty ground, at Courouble they bought several pieces of land, there is a neighbour sort of in the middle with whom they have fallen out.
Both are (much) smaller than what the Reef aspires to be: Tivoli has 9 households and Courouble 17.
We also went past another cohousing (Casa Nova). They were a group on the edge of falling apart because they couldn’t find a site and then got in touch with an investor (or some property developer) who agreed to cooperate with them on the property they are in now. Apparently, you can tell from the architecture (common spaces?) that it is designed from an investors point of view but at least they now have a building. Looks like it’s all about compromise.
Courouble has two inclusive units (one co-owned by all the members of the group, one owned by a woman who initially wanted to move in and then couldn’t), they are working with an AIS and have no control over who is moving in.
Tivoli worked with Citydev. They have two common spaces – one on the roof only for the group and one on the ground floor that (external) people can also use for workshops. They also trade plants with the neighbours which has really been helping them integrate into the neighbourhood. They have few common expenses (cleaning lady for common spaces and lift), the rest they do themselves (engineers and architects in the group).
18 adults 19 children
9 appartements
650m2 garden + building 370m2 on the gound
Avergage total price: 2000 euros/m2 (solar screens, wooden floors)
In since 2y. The project started in 2015
Big appt; often 4 bedrooms (2-4 children)
It is a project made with City Dev, and the land belongs to the Brussels region.
Financial objectif : make it accessible
One way to achieve that was not to buy the land (which in bxl represents 40Ă· of the total price); instead the land belongs to city dev
Percentage of people who can afford to buy based on the average revenues in Bruxelles (??not too sure what the exact stat was :-/): 25% (market price) → 40 (city dev) → 50 in Tivoli (only 2 people from the initial group couldn’t go through with the project)
Appartement of 350 000 in Tivoli–> same appartement on the market = 500 000 euros
Subsidies possible because ecological purposes (insulation, water tank, plant exchange with neighbours- hotspot for biodiversity - local plants); important for city dev
Building aspects:
Building in concrete (today could do better)
There was a limit of height for the building! This comes from city regulations and additional regulations specific to the neighborhood there.
It was still possible to add a common room at the top because you can “take out” other spaces from the main building and reassign to the extra level → Top floor half terrasse, half common room
So 2 common spaces:
1/ one at the bottom; available for neighborhood (agreed with city dev) → bike repair, concerts, classes
2/ one at the top floor: top floor is half terrasse, half glass room with view over the city…
Nice that way because in the summer they mostly use the downstairs area, and the top one in the winter. Not too much problem with energy consumption with the glass-room at the top because they dont overheat the room and actually it warms from the sun
Another very nice feature is the “coursives”: outer balconies that give acces to the apartments on each level; it’s a bit of an inner street where people cross paths!
Structure and legal stuff
Why a fondation ? 2 reasons: philosophical (perennial aspect, you cannot change the purpose of a foundation, allows us to do some activities) and fiscal
Important to have a fiscal expert
Notary specialised with cohousing: Maître de viser (but doesn’t work anymore), maître herneux (Namur)
Does anybody feel like visiting Tivoli? They have an interesting legal structure (fondation+clt) and a very nice building. I think @alberto you had a few questions on that?
Corouble is not an option any more cause they are doing huge work at the moment and are just a muddy construction site…
Happy to hear that I just need to calm down with the visits!
The ASBL I’m doing it through is asking whether we would have specific questions. I have said that the legal structure, the interactions with the neighborhood, and scouting were our main interests. Can anybody think of others?
