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East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative

California United States
#Community #Cooperative #DiverseFounders #SocialEnterprise


East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) is a community-led real estate developer. We are democratically run and led by People of Color. We remove land and housing from the speculative market to create permanently affordable, community-controlled land and businesses. 

We are turning a racist, classist housing market into a tool that can build wealth for the groups most disenfranchised by it. And now we're partnering with organizations and culture-keepers in West Oakland to envision a future for the historic Esther's Orbit Room.

Once considered the epicenter of the Bay Area’s blues & jazz scene,  Esther’s Orbit Room anchored a thriving Black cultural economy. Through an innovative collective arts business & acquisition plan we will design the rebirth of Esther’s. Our plan  will open up three affordable residential units and three commercial units at 50% market rate to our BIPOC community.

We are excited to announce that EB PREC is the first permanent real estate cooperative to qualify for a national Direct Public Offering (DPO) under Reg. A+ through the SEC! This means we are able to raise millions of dollars from the public, allowing investors, community members, foundations, and retirement accounts alike to divest from extractive industries and gentrification, and invest in community solidarity and a Just Transition through our fund. 

Who can Invest? Shares are currently available to residents or organizations in: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.

Join us to #Invest in communities, not commodities. 

$1,186,000 funds committed
of $50,000,000 maximum target
$1K minimum
Closed
391
Investments

Offering

Equity

Mission

East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) is a trailblazing land and housing  organization that facilitates BIPOC and allied communities to organize, purchase, and steward land and housing. Our model brings deep community engagement squarely into the process of property acquisition, development, and business feasibility. Our community activation work provides the organizational, financial, and technical inputs that increase communities’ ability to self-organize around housing solutions. 

Investment Perks

  1. $1,000

    Investor Owner

    Vote at member meetings and on two board members; 1.5% target annual return; 5 year minimum term and option to redeem.

Key Facts & Financials

  • As of September 30 2021, we closed escrow on the historic Esther's Orbit Room in West Oakland, representing EB PREC's largest collective acquisition to date. The legendary Esther’s Orbit Room, a historic Jazz club which--after more than 10 years empty--has returned to community ownership for unapologetically Black culture, arts, and business.
  • This $5 Million project, raised dollar by dollar, marks the next step in the cultural and economic recovery of West Oakland’s historic 7th Street Corridor.
  • Please review our Offering Circular (https://ebprec.org/offering) and Project Prospectus (https://ebprec.org/esthers-project-prospectus) when considering an investment.
  • The Esther's Orbit Room Cultural Revival Project aims to create a Black Arts destination, revitalize a corridor, create economic opportunities for the community and birth an anchor institution that supports Black arts, centers cooperative development and activates the culture. Check out the project plan: https://ebprec.org/esthers. This is the first commercial installation of its kind to offer commercial space to commercial resident owners at 50% of market rate value.
  • Please visit: ebprec.org/investor-owner to #Invest in communities, not commodities.
  • We currently seek funds in connection with the opportunity to rehab and develop Esther’s Orbit Room, but all such funds are placed in our general fund and spent at the discretion of our Board, consistent with our mission and the terms of our offering circular.
  • With such an outpouring of support, our dreams for West Oakland’s long-neglected 7th Street Corridor have now only expanded. Plans for the next phase of our revitalization project include start-up support for Esther’s upcoming residential and commercial tenants; a more ambitious construction and renewal plan for the space; and a community-centered participatory design process for the healing arts programming aspect of this reclamation.

East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative Story

EB PREC aligns the technical, financial, and organizational inputs to support Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and allied communities to cooperatively organize, finance, purchase, and steward mixed-use and residential property in the East Bay.

We buy and preserve real estate
to keep tenants of color in our community, to remove housing from the speculative market, and to address the root problems associated with poverty concentration and neighborhood disinvestment.

We recruit real estate investors to divest from Wall St., to invest in our communities, and to help us accumulate collective wealth. Our model empowers existing residents to build equity and assert control over neighborhood change, while mobilizing the resources of newer residents that want to live in inclusive and equitable communities (most of us want this!).

We foster a culture of democracy and Cooperation by giving everyone (tenants and investors, alike) an opportunity to co-own and co-manage real estate property.

EB PREC was born out of a collaboration between the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network (POCSHN) and the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC).

To learn more, check out our member meeting Juneteenth event video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC7D_boDd2Q

The Founders

Noni Session

Executive Director

Noni is a 3rd generation West Oaklander, Cultural Anthropologist and Grassroots Organizer. After a 2016 run for Oakland City Council in which she garnered more than 43% of the vote, Noni came to believe her community’s clearest pathway to economic justice and to the halt of rapid displacement was a cooperative economy. You can reach Noni at noni@ebprec.org

Gregory Jackson

Board President

Greg is a native of Oakland with deep family roots who feels fortunate to live within blocks of his family that now spans three generations. He is deeply committed to achieving economic equity in the East Bay through collective ownership and democratic decision-making. Recognizing the many social problems rooted in the unequal distribution of wealth and decision-making power, Greg focused his law school research on international cooperatives.

Greg aims to increase collective decision-making and cooperative-ownership in East Oakland. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from San Diego State University, and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law.

Greg envisions a cooperative corridor in East Oakland where the historically disadvantaged are given autonomy to self-determine the development of their neighborhoods. Greg knows that youth are the future, and believes the stewards of today must learn to co-create with the inheritants of tomorrow. Greg also serves on the Steering Committee of the East Oakland Grocery Cooperative and mentors at Youth Impact Hub. Greg enjoys art, travel, and meaningful conversation in his free time.

Shira Shaham

New Projects Director

Shira has nearly 10 years experience leading teams and managing custom design projects and businesses. She played a key role in the growth of a food cooperative start-up in New York from the initial meeting of some 20-odd people to a successful business open six days/week. Returning to the Bay Area where she was raised, Shira works to give back to the communities that have nurtured her. You can reach Shira at shira@ebprec.org

Ojan Mobedshahi

Finance Director

Ojan is a 2nd generation Iranian American, born and raised in the Bay Area. Before working at EB PREC Ojan worked in sustainable land use, real estate brokerage, and property development. Outside of EB PREC Ojan is a permaculture designer and certified landscape contractor, and runs his own landscape design/build company, Happy Planet Landscaping. With a background in economics, Ojan strives to bring the financial and strategic know-how to help visionary organizations build their capacity and long term sustainability, to create just transition to a regenerative and just economy for all.

The Team

Annie McShiras

Investment and Fundraising Director

Annie works to actualize her bold vision of an economy where all people have enough to thrive through her work as a fundraiser, storyteller, and business development strategist. She has worked across fields including student organizing, worker cooperative development, popular education, impact investing, and transforming our financial system. A white queer organizer, Annie is dedicated to justice, abundance, and equity, and is committed to learning and growing as a lifelong practice. She remains steadfast in her approach to create parallel, democratic institutions that provide a more just alternative to corporate capitalism. Annie’s tenet belief is that there are enough resources for everyone to thrive as long as those resources are distributed equitably. You can reach Annie at annie@ebprec.org.

Chi Chi Okonmah

Director of Member Relations

Chi Chi is an active, licensed Real Estate Broker serving residential buyers and sellers in the Bay Area since 2013. With years of experience as an educator, Chi Chi is committed to supporting her community in building a legacy of sustainable wealth through home ownership.

Comments

East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative

Invest in Communities not Commodities

Offering Details:

  • 50,000,000 total raise
  • Investor Owner Shares
  • Open to Everyone
  • $1,000 minimum

Investor Information

Privacy: We will not share any information outside of our organization and our third-party providers.

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