​Winding Rivers’ legal and financial structures were developed with the goals of embracing income diversity, lowering financial barriers to entry, maximizing community flexibility, and creating mutual ownership.

 

​We drew inspiration from many places, but this model is most informed by the LILAC project in Leeds, UK​,​ and​ the Maitri House in Maryland.

 

​​The property will be centrally held as a cooperative. Each household becomes a member of the co-op, which affords them an equal voice in consensus-based social and design decisions in the co-op.

 

Each household accrues financial equity in the co-op based on their monthly co-op fees. We accomplish affordability and income diversity by separating usage & maintenance costs from the capital costs. Usage and maintenance fees are based on space occupancy, while both the capital costs of ownership and a household’s accumulating equity in the project are distributed based on income.

 

Mortgage-related expenses are thus borne most by the members best able to support them. These high-earning members then accumulate more equity in the project than lower-earning members while both households pay a comparable percent of their income on the cost of purchasing and rehabbing the building.

 
Please contact us for further details on the financial model.