Verona Hills Village Co-op Offers Ownership in Maintenance-Free Facility

Verona Hills Village Co-op To Offer Ownership in Maintenance-Free Facility

By Diane Krauthamer

For those who are independent, active, and value the autonomy of home ownership without the burden of maintenance and repairs, the Village Cooperative of Verona Hills might be the perfect place to live. Slated to open in 2018, the Village Co-op, which will be located near Notre Dame de Sion High School on Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri, will include homes in one- and two-bedroom designs built specifically for active seniors. It will be a three-story building with 63 units, ranging in size from 873 to 1,602 square feet.

“The homes are very spacious and large because they’re owner-occupied,” said Shane Wright, one of the partners with Real Estate Equities Development, LLC, a Minnesota-based company that is developing this project.

There will be no shortage of amenities at this new facility. “There [will be] a very large community room, a pub room area, raised garden beds, an outdoor fireplace and grilling patio, reading areas, fitness center, and then we’ve got extra internal storage options for owners inside the building,” Wright said, adding that two guest suites will be built “for friends and family when they come visit.” Additionally, the Village Cooperative will be an age-restricted community for those age 62 and over, which Wright described as “extremely freeing for the buyers” because residents will not “have to worry about all the things you would in a typical type of neighborhood.”

“You get to be your own landlord—you own and control everything.” – Shane Wright

How is a co-op unique? Essentially, the buyer purchases a share in the cooperative community. The cooperative housing corporation owns everything, including the inside of the homes, so “you get to be your own landlord—you own and control everything,” Wright said. Meanwhile, the cooperative corporation is responsible for maintaining and fixing the things around the property, so you don’t individually have to.

In addition to convenience, there are economic advantages to living in a co-op.

“The share that you own is your asset, and it appreciates each year you live there. You get it back after you move out,” Wright said.  “There’s no outside third party owner. You don’t have to pay high expenses because there’s no third party profit. You’re your own landlord. So it keeps the costs very reasonable long-term, and it’s just a very easy and liberating way to own and control where you live.” The average cost per unit will be approximately $125,000, and average expenses will be approximately $1200 to $1300 per month.

For potential residents, these qualities will breed long-term livability, as Wright has seen in Real Estate Equities’ other senior housing co-ops located throughout the Midwest.

“Our buyers want to have these types of things in their community because they plan on staying there long-term, and our buyers do stay in these communities long-term,” Wright said. But it’s not just the amenities that keep residents living in these developments for such a long period of time.

“The community aspect is really, quite frankly, why people stay there so long,” he said.

“There’s not a lot of turnover of homes—that’s why co-ops have had a really good success long-term,” he said. “There’s a really long history of successful cooperatives that dates back to the 1970s in Minnesota where they were started.”

So, what’s the downside? Wright said prospective buyers will have to wait for it to be constructed. But, now is a good time to get a “priority number” (get on the waiting list) for 2018.

To secure a spot at the Village Cooperative in Verona Hills, or to find more information, contact sales manager Doris Sarver at 913-808-3388, or visit the sales office located at 12132 State Line Road.