Le Chateau Co-op to Provide Graduate Student Housing, Fall 2005

Date: Friday, April 29, 2005

Contacts:

Melanie Colburn, Communications Coordinator (Tu, W, F)
(510) 848-1936 ext. 612, pr@usca.org

Kathryn, McCarthy, Community Relations (M-Th)
(510) 848-1936 ext. 317, cell (510) 685-6297, kathyrn@usca.org

The University Student’s Cooperative Association (USCA) Board of Directors voted Thursday night to temporally close Le Chateau co-op for the summer in order to make internal and external repairs and reopen the three houses as primarily graduate student housing in Fall 2005.

The transformation will both meet a real need for graduate housing among UC Berkeley students and address neighbor relations following a heated small claims court case. The move comes despite a recent decision by the USCA to appeal lawsuits filed by neighbors in small claims court.

At the “Student Co-ops in the Community” Town Hall meeting on April 7, neighbors of Chateau, City officials and UC Berkeley representatives were invited to comment on the Student Co-ops’ role in the community and present their own proposals for improvements. Many of these suggestions were included in Thursday’s final decision, which includes shutting the house down for the summer for repairs and opening it in fall 2005 as a room-only co-op for graduate and re-entry students, faculty, visiting scholars and post-docs. The USCA will also reduce the occupancy to 59 people, create only single-occupancy rooms, reduce the housework obligation (from 5 to 2.5 hours/week), hire a professional house manager and reduce rent rates. The house will be temporarily called “Hillegass/Parker Grad House” until the fall, when the new house council will recommend a permanent name.

The plan was enacted with the goal of reducing noise, vacancies and turnover, while improving community relations. “This represents significant change we think the neighbors can live with,” according to USCA president Nick Hamilton. “Whether problems in the past were real, perceived or exaggerated, and despite a variety of improvements we have seen at the house over the past year, the Board has decided to address the fact that the building is not operating at an optimal level. We are also looking at this as an opportunity to make significant, lasting, and beneficial improvements for the house and for the organization as a whole.”

Willard Neighborhood Association President George Beier has proposed that the neighbors pitch in to work on the house: “We’ll get to know each other, build mutual understanding and respect, and prove that group houses and homeowners can co-exist and thrive.”

Graduate Dean Mary Ann Mason: "UC Berkeley graduate students need more housing options that are affordable and close to campus. The Chateau offers a wonderful opportunity for a graduate-focused cooperative residence in an established yet renovated setting, to the benefit of students and the community alike. I applaud this win-win decision."