Walnut House Cooperative is a 22-unit limited equity co-op apartment building in Berkeley, California.

Below are brief, incomplete summaries of our cooperative. Our Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Proprietary Lease provide additional description of Member and Cooperative duties and responsibilities.

Location

Located several blocks northwest of the U.C. Berkeley campus, Walnut House is about five blocks from downtown Berkeley and close to theaters, concert venues, movie houses, restaurants, post offices, supermarkets, public libraries, several parks, and a variety of other amenities and establishments. Several bus routes are only a block away, and the downtown Berkeley BART station is 0.4 miles away. Traffic is light on our street, and the U.C. Berkeley agriculture field provides a block of open space across the street (although U.C. Berkeley does plan to develop student housing on the field).

Our building

Walnut House was built in 1927. Of the 22 units, 11 are studios, 9 are one-bedroom, and 2 are two-bedroom. Although apartments vary in size, they have good natural light, decent closet space, and small dinettes adjoining most kitchens. Stoves and refrigerators are furnished, and there is central steam heat.

There is a shared laundry room, bike storage, an office, and a small meeting room. Garage space is limited and mostly used for common and personal storage. The Berkeley neighborhood parking zone program makes street parking possible, and we have a few “emergency” parking spaces behind the building for short-term use when street parking is unavailable. 

Accessibility Information

For unit specific accessibility information, please see the individual unit descriptions. Walnut House is a four-story building without an elevator. There is 1 step at the main front entrance, and a ramp at the back entrance. There are 16 steps to the 2nd floor, 17 more to the 3rd floor. The ground floor hallway is ___ wide. The building is not fragrance free or low scent. Several members have pets (including both cats and dogs) that live in their units. In accordance with Berkeley Municipal Code 12.70, smoking is not allowed in the building. Masks are currently required in all common areas, and all co-op meetings are currently conducted digitally via Zoom. 

For any questions or more information around accessibility, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Selections Committee at [email protected]

Apartment sizes

Being a 1920’s building, our units may be considered small by some of today’s standards.

• Studios (11): Most new members will join us by moving into a studio. Studios are in the 405-481 square feet range. The occupancy limit on studios is 2 people.
• One-bedroom units (9): Vacant one-bedroom units are usually taken by existing Members. One-bedroom units are in the 546-741 square feet range. The occupancy limit on one-bedroom units is 3 people.
• Two-bedroom units (2): These units rarely come available. Two-bedroom units are 1,017-1,038 square feet. The occupancy limit on two-bedroom units is 5 people.

Storage

We have a minimal amount of storage in garage space behind our main building. Garage units are typically divided and are assessed between $22.36 to $60 per month depending on the shared portion of each garage space. Members are not guaranteed garage space, but we attempt to distribute them equitably. New members often do not get any space when they first move in.

Cooperative ownership 

Walnut House is a nonprofit “mutual-benefit” corporation formed in 1981 to purchase the property and to operate it as a limited-equity housing cooperative: we acquired the property on December 31, 1982. Each member household owns one of the 22 membership interests in the corporation, and this entitles the member to lease the unit corresponding to that specific membership interest. Other than minimal interest that accrues annually on the value of these memberships, all other equity gains accrue to the corporation. In limiting individuals’ equity gains, this type of cooperative assures that people of moderate means are able to become members despite the skyrocketing costs of real estate in the Bay Area.

Member Equity : “share value”

As a limited equity cooperative, members own a share in the corporation. The cost of each share is based on the relative size and value of each individual unit, as established by the cooperative when it was formed as well as whether prior occupants’ improvements, if any, added value to the units. Share values increase yearly based on state law and “cost of living”/inflation increases ( averaging in the 3-5% range, but never more than 10%). Ownership of a share and possession of a lease entitles the member(s) to occupy a specific unit in the building. Unlike in a condo, a member does not own their unit. Ownership of the physical building, including responsibility for maintenance of plumbing, major appliances, etc., remains with the cooperative.

Shares are purchased by members upon joining the Cooperative, and are paid back when the member leaves (shares are paid back at the new value based on the annual increases). As of 2023, the range in membership share values for studios range from $8,667-$15,307, one-bedrooms from $15,003-$20,510, and two-bedrooms from $23,720-$30,399. New members generally use their own resources to acquire their memberships. Applicants may be able to get a Limited Equity Cooperative Housing Share Loan from Berkeley’s Consumer Cooperative Federal Credit Union.

Low costs, tax breaks, and financial stability

Members pay a monthly assessment that covers all operating and projected expenses of the co-op. This includes payment of fees, taxes, contributions to our replacement reserves (these pay for major repairs and replacements such as building electrical, plumbing, roofing, and other long-term expenses), and utilities (except electricity, telephone, cable, and Internet). Monthly assessments are based on the relative size and value of each unit. 

In 2023, studio assessments range from $415-$710, one-bedrooms from $684-$879, and two-bedrooms from $1064-$1234. Historically, assessments have increased annually, depending on the financial need of the co-op and based on limits set by the local regulatory authorities.  For 2022-2023, monthly assessments increased by 8.8% — 9.2%, but historically the increase has been lower. Among the expenses covered by these assessments are property taxes. As membership holders in the corporation, many members are able to deduct their share of property tax from their taxable incomes: for some, however, the amount is not high enough to merit their itemizing deductions on their returns. Please note that although our monthly carrying charges are below comparable rental prices in this neighborhood and therefore provide inexpensive housing, in determining whether the co-op makes sense for them, applicants should consider the value of the time required of them as members (see “Shared responsibilities,” below). 

Monthly assessments are reviewed annually as part of our budgeting process and are raised to cover current expenses, to fund capital improvements, and to increase cash reserves set aside for future repairs and contingencies. 

There are strict guidelines around subletting. Subletting agreements must be reviewed and approved by the Board. Units cannot be sublet at a profit (e.g. no “AirBnB arbitrage”).

Shared responsibilities 

The co-op is governed by a Board of Directors composed of 3-5 members elected to staggered 2-year terms. They are responsible for coordinating the work of the committees that handle the day-to-day activities of managing and maintaining the building with the help of a part-time, in-residence Resident Manager, who is also a member. The membership as a whole are expected to play an active role in governance by becoming familiar with our organizational by-laws, understanding applicable state and local laws, staying informed about Board and committee activities and by participating in general membership meetings. We seek to make decisions by consensus at each level of our organization, but if consensus cannot be reached on a particular issue we take a vote: at meetings of the membership, each unit has one vote and a two-thirds majority is required to make decisions when there’s no consensus. 

In addition to sharing responsibility for governance, all co-op residents are required to share in the management, maintenance and improvement of our building and grounds. Different people have different skills, aptitudes, and preferences, so members are not directed to do particular tasks. Instead, it is a member’s responsibility to volunteer when assistance is requested for appropriate work. Members are also encouraged to take initiative and identify how they can otherwise contribute to the community. Much of the work is physical work such as gardening, minor repairs, and cleaning of common areas. Other tasks include office work and planning, researching, coordinating, and performing the various organizational functions of the co-op. All members are expected to prepare for and participate in general membership meetings. Committee members are expected to do additional work outside of their meetings, such as preparing minutes, gathering and reporting the information needed for decision-making, and performing follow-up tasks related to implementing decisions. 

The “work participation requirement” (WPR) currently expected of all able residents is 8 hours/month, although it may be changed from time to time.

Meetings

We have a Board (composed of elected Members) that meets monthly. General membership meetings are required for board elections, year end financial review and budget approvals, etc. There are other ongoing Committees and more temporary working groups that meet according to project needs. The current Committees are Maintenance and Member Selections. Examples of current or past working groups include insurance, energy/sustainability, seismic retrofit, groundskeeping, and bookkeeping.

Community with privacy 

One of the goals in establishing the co-op was to create an “urban” community in which people know and help one another. While members enjoy privacy in their own apartments, we have many opportunities to get to know each other during meetings, on workdays, or when performing tasks and projects at other times. We have seasonal parties and occasional potlucks, and people gather informally in the halls, in one another’s apartments, and in the meeting room. We are a community made up of people from different backgrounds, ages, occupations, and lifestyles. Although we welcome children, the size of most units (especially those generally available to new members) has led to our typically being a community of adults, many of whom are single. We welcome well-behaved pets, but they’re not allowed to roam the halls unsupervised. In some units, there’s not as much privacy as we’d like due to some particularly transmissive walls/floors/ceilings, which make these units unsuitable for people requiring either the quiet or the noise-making freedom that often comes with living in a single-family residence.

Membership turnover 

Members who wish to leave must notify the co-op as soon as possible, but no less than two months in advance. The co-op buys the departing member’s membership interest, the price of the share determined by their original investment, whatever interest has accrued on it, and the pre-approved value of any capital improvements the member made to the apartment. After determining whether a current member or candidate on the waitlist will be “switching” to that unit, a Selections Committee is formed to recruit, interview, and evaluate applicants for whatever unit will be available for an outsider: these units tend to be studios, as the units with separate bedrooms are generally desired by current members. Timeline for the process may depend on needed repairs to the available units.

The Selections process relies heavily on interviews to identify who will provisionally be offered membership: credit, income/finance, and reference checks are run before the Committee forwards its recommendation to the Board for review. Once “selected,” new members are given a minimum of 30 days before they are responsible for paying monthly assessments on their units. Substantial payment on share value and initial assessment are due immediately upon acceptance and signing of the coop lease.