MEETING TO TEST INTEREST IN HOUSING CO-OPS

Housing cooperatives consist of people who join together to form a corporation that owns the buildings they live in. Those who purchase a share lease a dwelling within the cooperative, pay part of the monthly expenses and participate in its democratically controlled operation. To date, most cooperatives have been located in cities Cooperative City in the Bronx, New York, houses more than 60,000 families but cooperatives increasingly are being used to provide housing in rural areas.

The public is invited to a meeting intended to gauge local interest in establishing housing cooperatives. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at the Conservation Center in Cape Girardeau County Park.

The meeting is sponsored by Rural Development. Speaking will be Nathan Chitwood, a housing cooperative specialist, and James Gosche, a Rural Development manager who has visited a cooperative housing site operating in Maryville.

Becky Eftink, a community development specialist for Rural Development, said the Maryville housing was established for farmers who wanted to move into town when they left their farms.

That cooperative has a community room, a library and a van, and each unit has a garage. "They are selling a way of life," she said.

Eftink said both limited equity and market value co-ops are possible.

Cooperatives offer the advantages of lower utility costs and a low-cost buy-in, she said. "If the cooperative ends up getting a loan then there is one blanket mortgage. There are no closing costs each time a unit is sold."The units usually are multifamily or apartments, though single-family homes located in proximity can be operated as a cooperative.

Whether or not cooperatives are the answer, Cape Girardeau County does have a lack of multifamily housing units, Eftink said. The Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging is helping organize the meeting."Housing is needed for seniors," said Ruth Dockins, public information director for the agency.

Some of the methods of setting up cooperatives make them particularly appropriate for people whose incomes are in the low to middle range."It can be fixed so the shares don't appreciate as fast as inflation would make the property appreciate," Dockins said. "Thus they are easier to sell and more affordable."But luxury cooperatives also are a possibility."We're trying to get a feel for whether anybody is interested," Dockins said. "And if they are, in what kind of housing."Anyone who needs transportation to the meeting can call Rural Development at 243-3158.