By Megan Feddersen of Sentinel of Fairmont, Minn.
Describing the Village Cooperative isn’t easy: Living with your peers in a maintenance-free setting sounds like both a nursing home and a college dormitory, but it’s a far shot from either.
“Each person who moves in there will own 1/36 of the building,” explained Jodie Whitmore, sales and marketing coordinator for the Village Cooperative. The three-story facility being constructed behind Shopko should be ready for residents by the first of October. Cooperative living isn’t anything radically new, but it is strange to this area. The idea was conceived in Edina about 30 years ago when the community had a large group of retirees in good health with money to spend – but cooperative living isn’t just for the wealthy, according to Whitmore. “There’s still an education process,” Whitmore said. “This is a whole new concept for people.”
A lot of misconceptions about the Village Co-op are floating around town, especially about the price, said Jim Swanson, one of the co-op’s shareholders. “Everyone thinks it’s so expensive. Wherever you go there’s people who say, “I can¹t afford to live there,¹” he said. “But I say people can’t afford not to live there.” “You can say that again,” piped in Roger Isenberg, another shareholder with the co-op.
Residents of the cooperative will be shareholders age 62 and up belonging to a corporation that owns the property. One purchased unit equals one share of the corporation. The cost of the shares generally depends on the size of the unit, with the cheapest at $27,810 and the most expensive at $50,985, with an estimated 3 percent payback per year during the life of the contract.
Residents also pay a monthly fee of $650 to $1,160 to cover the cost of operations, utilities, insurance, taxes and mortgage. Swanson acknowledged he had some misgivings in the beginning with who would construct and own the building, “but then you realize it’s going to be owned by us,” he said.
The Village will offer its residents a community room with kitchen, reading areas, planting areas, a woodworking shop and exercise room, plus underground, heated parking. Appliances are furnished for the units, and each will have its own laundry room, storage areas and private balcony. Only 10 of 36 units remain unsold.
“These are not small little apartments,” Whitmore said. The units vary in size from 870 square feet with one bedroom and one bathroom, to 1,391-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath residences.
“They have all designed their own homes at this point,” Whitmore said, adding that fewer decorating options will be available to anyone waiting to sign up. So far Whitmore has seen people of all walks of life signing on, from farmers comimg into town to renters to people who are just tired of taking care of their homes and want to relax. Most are retired, but not all, she said.
“They all wish it was done and they could move in now,” she said. As far as Swanson is concerned, the Village Cooperative is one of the best things to happen in Fairmont for people in his age group. “We have everything else – nursing homes, assisted living – but we’re lacking this,” said Swanson.
Swanson signed up for the co-op last summer, shortly before losing his wife. “We both decided that this would be for us,” he said. Now that he’s living alone, he’s even more certain of his decision. “I need to be around people,” he said, “maybe because of losing my wife.” The shareholders gathered Wednesday during an open house at the Village Co-op’s sales office on Downtown Plaza.
“This is a great group of people moving in there,” said Merlin Waterbury. The location was the main draw for Waterbury and his wife, plus the in-house laundry, heated garage and elevator – things they’ve gone without in their past five years of apartment living. “Also the security,” said Waterbury. “… If you don’t have security, anyone can come in your building.” “And we don’t have any upkeep on anything,” he added.
The upkeep was what attracted Frank and Velda Simon to the Village. Maintaining their lawn and lakeside home on Shoreacres Drive is too much for them, Velda explained. “We’re probably the oldest couple in the deal,” she said. Whitmore estimated the median age of the Village residents is about 75.