The Past
In the early part of the 20th century, Washington Street, extending from City Hall fourteen blocks to the waterfront across the Bay from San Francisco, was the bustling commercial core of downtown Oakland, California, in the Old Oakland neighborhood. Between Ninth and Tenth Streets, stood the building now known as Swan's Market. Built in sections starting in 1917, this white brick landmark served for most of its early life as a department store and prepared food mart. It closed almost 20 years ago and stood empty until five years ago when it was turned over for development to the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), a non-profit developer dedicated to community economic development and the construction of affordable housing.
The Challenges
In its 20-plus years of service to the community, EBALDC had not included market-rate housing in any of their projects, but the project manager assigned to the development of Swan's Market was very familiar with cohousing, and was eager to include a group of cohousing condominiums and a common house in the multi-use project. A nascent cohousing group looking at possible downtown sites coalesced and started working in partnership with EBALDC through all stages of the project: helping pull the project "out of the fire" when the City of Oakland put on the brakes for six months, working with the project architect (Pyatok Associates) and The Cohousing Company on the site plan and the design of the common house and our individual residences, and building the group.
There were many obstacles to overcome in building this group. Three important ones were the reluctance of many to invest their dollars and themselves in a downtown devastated by freeway construction and urban "removal" in the sixties and seventies, peoples' perception that downtown living was dangerous, and the much-maligned condition of the Oakland public schools. In addition, we ran up against the desire of many potential cohousers to live away from the center city where they could share at least an acre, perhaps even a dozen or more acres of open space, along with their common buildings. What we had going for us was the incredible convenience of downtown living -- "walking distance" to just about everything (restaurants, museums, theaters, entertainment centers, work places, galleries, shopping, Chinatown), the availability of extensive public transportation, lively city life all around, and, at least for some, the challenges and pleasures of being pioneers.
The Present
The project was under construction for a little more than two years, and all 20 families completed the purchase of our units and moved in, as the 50th completed cohousing community in North America, in March, 2000. Swans Marketplace is open and busy, providing an ongoing venue for the popular merchants relocated from the nearby Housewives Market; our new neighbors in the rental part of the project moved in. The project is also home to the Museum of Children's Art and some other arts uses, and features restaurants, shoe and games stores, and a grocery, along with some office space. And of course there's the weekly Farmer's Market out front every Friday!
All of our 20 cohousing condominium units were sold to the original buyers who reserved them through our group, and two have since resold at market prices; one is rented. Our 3,500 square-foot common house is nothing short of spectacular and we ended up having a garden after all. Our garden and Swans Walk which separates our two rows of condos are open to the sky with the trusses that used to hold up that portion of the roof exposed. We've completed our guestroom and settling in to community living -- with privacy. There are no units for sale or rent at this time.
In the early part of the 20th century, Washington Street, extending from City Hall fourteen blocks to the waterfront across the Bay from San Francisco, was the bustling commercial core of downtown Oakland, California, in the Old Oakland neighborhood. Between Ninth and Tenth Streets, stood the building now known as Swan's Market. Built in sections starting in 1917, this white brick landmark served for most of its early life as a department store and prepared food mart. It closed almost 20 years ago and stood empty until five years ago when it was turned over for development to the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), a non-profit developer dedicated to community economic development and the construction of affordable housing.
The Challenges
In its 20-plus years of service to the community, EBALDC had not included market-rate housing in any of their projects, but the project manager assigned to the development of Swan's Market was very familiar with cohousing, and was eager to include a group of cohousing condominiums and a common house in the multi-use project. A nascent cohousing group looking at possible downtown sites coalesced and started working in partnership with EBALDC through all stages of the project: helping pull the project "out of the fire" when the City of Oakland put on the brakes for six months, working with the project architect (Pyatok Associates) and The Cohousing Company on the site plan and the design of the common house and our individual residences, and building the group.
There were many obstacles to overcome in building this group. Three important ones were the reluctance of many to invest their dollars and themselves in a downtown devastated by freeway construction and urban "removal" in the sixties and seventies, peoples' perception that downtown living was dangerous, and the much-maligned condition of the Oakland public schools. In addition, we ran up against the desire of many potential cohousers to live away from the center city where they could share at least an acre, perhaps even a dozen or more acres of open space, along with their common buildings. What we had going for us was the incredible convenience of downtown living -- "walking distance" to just about everything (restaurants, museums, theaters, entertainment centers, work places, galleries, shopping, Chinatown), the availability of extensive public transportation, lively city life all around, and, at least for some, the challenges and pleasures of being pioneers.
The Present
The project was under construction for a little more than two years, and all 20 families completed the purchase of our units and moved in, as the 50th completed cohousing community in North America, in March, 2000. Swans Marketplace is open and busy, providing an ongoing venue for the popular merchants relocated from the nearby Housewives Market; our new neighbors in the rental part of the project moved in. The project is also home to the Museum of Children's Art and some other arts uses, and features restaurants, shoe and games stores, and a grocery, along with some office space. And of course there's the weekly Farmer's Market out front every Friday!
All of our 20 cohousing condominium units were sold to the original buyers who reserved them through our group, and two have since resold at market prices; one is rented. Our 3,500 square-foot common house is nothing short of spectacular and we ended up having a garden after all. Our garden and Swans Walk which separates our two rows of condos are open to the sky with the trusses that used to hold up that portion of the roof exposed. We've completed our guestroom and settling in to community living -- with privacy. There are no units for sale or rent at this time.
