Ninth Street Co-op
The Ninth Street Co-op after 28 years as an independent housing co-op, on January 1, 2015, the Ninth Street Co-op became a BACLT project. The history of the Coop and its formation can be found here (link PDF).
The Ninth Street Co-op has large vegetable gardens with year-round produce, as well as many fruit trees, as well as a chicken coop with ten hens producing delicious eggs! Members also have their own private backyards and gardens. Members do most of the routine maintenance and landscaping, and each month, members spend a few hours on garden and maintenance tasks.
Highlights
It is a five-unit Limited Equity Housing Co-op (LEHC) in West Berkeley, with 8 members.
The units were all one-bedroom apartments, and there are also four garages.
Rents have stabilized over the past several years, with only occasional increases. Rents range from $430 to $690 a month. New residents pay a “share value” (similar to a down payment) of approximately $5500 to buy into the co-op.
In 2004, they refinanced the property to install solar photo-voltaic electricity and dual-paned insulated windows in all units. This greatly increased the energy efficiency, while significantly reducing gas and electric bills.