condominium Archives • Bay State Commons

11 January 20182 February 2018

January 2018 Newsletter – Events and Project Updates

Bay State Commons Unit K- 2 Bedroom_Units 111, 211, 311

Happy New Year from Bay State Commons Cohousing!

We hope that you have been staying warm and dry during this snowy and cold start to 2018. Since sending out our December Newsletter late last month, we have some exciting new updates:

Bay State Commons recently launched our new website and just this week posted architect renderings of the building common areas and 3D images of available units, which can be found on our site plan and unit availability page. Small thumbnail images of several units can be seen below:

We have also launched a series of blog posts about BSC member activities, including recent building sustainability efforts and community-building activities.

Meanwhile, in Malden, where we will be closing on the site at 368 Pleasant Street in April, the multi-family building moratorium that has been in place for nearly two years ended at the close of 2017. BSC is now entering the construction permitting process that will hopefully allow us to break ground in the summer or fall of 2018, in advance of a 2019 move-in.

In anticipation of this, our membership recruitment has picked up momentum, thanks to an advertising campaign on social media and in The Boston Globe, Metro Boston and The Bay State Banner. With our current roster of members, both equity and associate, and the active prospective members recently coming to us, we are steadily filling up our membership. Now is the time to check out our community and our project before all 30 condo units are spoken for.

Join us for one of our upcoming meetings and events:

Tuesday, Jan. 16, 6:30–9pm, business meeting at Cornerstone Cohousing, 175 Harvey Street, Cambridge, MA. Please click here for directions.
Wednesday, Jan. 17, BSC Information Session! 6:30–8pm, Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Street, Somerville, MA. Please click here for directions.
Thursday, Feb. 1, 7–8:30pm, BSC Information Session! Jamaica Plain Cohousing, 65 Cornwall Street, Boston, MA. Please click here for directions.
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 6:30–9pm, business meeting at the American Legion site at 368 Pleasant Street in Malden. Use the entrance on the side of the building where you go up a flight of stairs. There is parking available and is also a 5 minute walk from the Malden Center T station. Please click here for directions.

As always, thank you for your interest in Bay State Commons Cohousing. We hope to see you soon!

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15 November 201722 November 2017

November 2017 Newsletter Update – Bay State Commons Forging Ahead On Schedule

Model of the ground floor of the common house, mid-2017.

Bay State Commons Cohousing is forging ahead on schedule, and is looking for new members to join as we move towards construction. We have finished the design sessions with our architects, who will now be converting our conceptual design to building plans which can be submitted to the city for approval.

Before the design is finished we have 15 “small” design issues to resolve at our meetings. Do we want a fireplace and if so, a wood or gas fireplace? How do we handle trash and recycling? Do we want a metal roof? Would a ground source heat pump work for us? Etc.

Near the end of 2017, we will formally apply for project permitting from the City of Malden. Between now and then, we have time to work out some final design details and focus on marketing. Of our community’s envisioned 30 units, we have now sold 14, and 5 households have expressed an intent to become an ‘Equity Member’ and commit to purchase a unit.

By the end of January 2018, we will execute our option to buy 368 Pleasant Street and become its owners. By early to mid-2018, we hope to complete permitting and construction financing. At that time, we would break ground and begin construction on our new homes. If all goes according to plan, the new community’s doors will open in mid-2019.

If you are interested in learning more about this exciting project, send us an email, or come to one of our every-other week planning meetings or upcoming social events to learn more and get involved! www.baystatecommons.org or baystatecommons@gmail.com

Hope to be in contact!

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Welcome!

Great News! Malden has enacted a Cohousing ordinance, allowing projects like ours to take shape in the community. We now plan to move forward through the permitting process with the goal of breaking ground later this fall. Our architects are working on adjustments to our 3-story, 30 unit design to submit to the city, and we will add these plans to the website soon. Stay tuned, and check out one of our meetings to learn more about our project. We have meetings twice a month, every first Tuesday in Cambridge, and third Tuesday in Malden. Information on meeting location can be found here.

We are a group of residents from Malden and surrounding towns who want to live in a residential community together. Working as our own developer, our intention is to design and build a cohousing development for thirty households (with units sized from studios to 3 bedrooms) at 368 Pleasant Street near the center of Malden, MA.

We are made up of families, couples, and single people, representing four generations and a wide variety of interests, include cooking, gardening, making music and just spending time catching up. Some of us work, some are in school, and some are retired. It is important to us that residents have the support of their neighbors when need arises, and have the opportunity to age in place.

Together with our architects, Neshamkin-French and French 2D, we are in the process of seeking town permits and financing for construction, and hope to break ground in early 2019. We look forward to becoming part of the greater Malden community.

Cooking at a Common House Meal — Community members preparing food for a social gathering

What is Cohousing?

Cohousing is a way of building a community that balances private units with shared common space. We will be organized as a condominium, with the building space designed to encourage interaction and a sense of community. Along with units with standard amenities like private kitchens & dining room spaces, there will be expanded common space that is envisioned to include shared music and art spaces, a children’s play area, a workshop, exercise room, and common kitchen and “great room” suitable for residents to cook and eat together for occasional common meals.

You can learn more about cohousing in general by going to our ‘About Cohousing’ page, or referring to this webpage for a more visual representation of cohousing.

Who Are We?

Learn more about us here. We value neighborliness, good communication and thoughtfulness. Most of us didn’t know each other initially, but as we’ve worked together, we’ve already begun making connections as we look forward to the permitting, construction and move-in process.

You can learn more about us by checking out the below links.

Contact us!

Learn more about membership

Read the FAQs for more detailed information

Learn more about our members

Read our Vision Statement

Meet the professionals who are helping us build the community.

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13 July 201715 November 2017

July 2017 Newsletter Update – Bay State Commons to Meet with Future Neighbors

MALDEN, MA (July 13, 2017)—Moving one step closer to bringing cohousing to Malden, the future residents of Bay State Commons recently held a successful open meeting with abutters and other Maldonians to discuss the group’s proposed condominium development outside Malden Square.

Bay State Commons is a growing cohousing group currently comprised of sixteen households of local individuals, couples, and families planning to redevelop the American Legion property at 368 Pleasant Street, Malden. Diverse in backgrounds, ages, and interests, all members desire to live in a community based on shared values such as environmental sustainability, social bonds between neighbors, and mutual respect.

Cohousing balances community and privacy, creating a traditional neighborhood designed and developed by residents working with innovative architects. There are currently 165 cohousing communities nationally, 12 in Massachusetts. Drawn by shared ideals, a cohousing group typically forms well before purchasing a site and developing housing on it. Bay State Commons is no different. Formed in 2013 and organized as an LLC in 2014, BSC currently holds an option to purchase the American Legion site, with plans to build 26 to 30 owner-occupied condominiums—plus shared common facilities for weekly group meals, childcare, and other activities—designed by Boston-based French 2D and Neshamkin French Architects. The group will be submitting its development proposal to the City of Malden for approval once the city’s current building moratorium expires, and hopes to move into the new complex in 2019.

Attendees at the open meeting listened to a presentation on the group’s plans, viewed sketches and models of the planned building, and got to know their future neighbors. The meeting is part of Bay State Commons’ continued dialogue with Malden and local residents.

To learn more and get involved, send us an email, or come to one of our every-other week planning meetings or upcoming social events! www.baystatecommons.org or baystatecommons@gmail.com

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