As a tenant, you have the right to improve your home. However, this can only be done after the authorization has been granted. A change is anything that is a complement or modification of the property or its supply of gas, electricity or water. Additional shares are allocated to residents who extend their housing, and the changes result in an increase in monthly support: 25 per cent for people who add residences; 15% for people renovating cellars; and a smaller amount for those who add solar spaces that typically cost between $45,000 and $60,000. Friedrich is convinced that the $10 million „shareholder and value-added” improvement has increased the total value of co-op real estate. The Board of Directors is also open to talking about its finances and even seeing regular updates on their site, www.glenoaksvillage.com for current and potential residents. The GOVO community also publishes a professional 4-colour newsletter about meeting koop. The „no McMansion” Co-op modification policy requires renovators to seek board approval, to ensure a limited impact on the complex, and to ensure that renovations match the appearance and characteristics of the complex. „We encourage absolute transparency,” Friedrich says. „If everyone knows what you`re doing, you won`t have a problem in the future. The news is there, and there are no secrets. We discovered that there were obvious benefits for our community to go with prefabricated units for our expansion project. The modular units are installed in a factory-controlled environment where they are protected from humidity and bad weather. The modular supplements are more robust than on the spot, and their reinforcement of metals allows them to be transported by trailer to their final destination.
Once they arrive, most units take only a few hours to install them – which means less disruption for the owners and their neighbouring neighbours. Justin Conklin, who was married after buying in Glen Oaks and had children, sees koop as a greater virtue. By allowing shareholders to grow in their units, the complex fights against the „decimating” of the middle class. „The strength of a co-op is to have a long-term residence, so the current board has worked very hard over the past 10 to 15 years, glen Oaks has completely reoriented and changed,” says Bob Friedrich, current President of Glen Oaks Village Owners Inc. (GOVO). To date, about 20 of our neighbours have also expanded their homes with the same type of supplement. These additions have tremendous value for the entire co-op community – but the main benefit to my family is that it has allowed us to call Glen Oaks Village home for many years. So far, 17 shareholders have added sun rooms to their apartments, some on the ground floor, some on columns on the second floor. Seven more are in progress.
One of the first adoptive parents was Linda Galicki, who first secured the agreement of a worried neighbour, and then made sure that her addition to the brick and mortar outside matched the 70-year-old building. „For about $50,000, I now have a 15-by-15-foot room, which I absolutely love,” Galicki says. Although there is no new building, some units have been rebuilt. Miller explains that the most popular amenities include granite, stainless steel appliances and washing machine/dryer. Residents also benefit from a 24-hour security service.