Joining A Coop Board: Michelle Beshaw, Board Member
Kensington, Brooklyn
Case+Byers sold Michelle Beshaw her first apartment, an impressive prewar one bedroom on a high floor in Kensington, Brooklyn, 10 years ago. During the buying process we recommended Michelle, an incredibly active performer, artist and museum professional, “get involved with the board.” Ten years later, with more than five years of those as board president, Michelle is not only still “involved,” but managing another project- partnering with Case+Byers to renovate and sell a building owned unit.
It is the third time we’ll have designed, project-managed, staged, and sold a unit for this building and the third time working with Michelle.
Michelle, when we recommended that you join the board, we had no idea your term would be 10 years and counting! What keeps you so motivated?
We’ve had lovely people on the board, all with a shared interest in making the building better for everyone. We’ve had a few large projects during my tenure on the board, re-pointing, a new roof, interior painting, to name a few, and I wanted to see those through. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. This is my first adventure in home/co-op ownership and serving on the board has helped me understand the responsibilities and value of ownership.
How do you balance board responsibilities with your own work, art and personal life?
Luckily there are 7 of us so the work doesn’t all fall to 1 or 2 people. It can be difficult when we have big projects. We lean on our management company for those but it’s super important to maintain good relations, collaborate and support their efforts to keep things moving.
We usually speak to protecting one’s investment when recommending board participation. What’s your most compelling argument?
There is an impression that serving on the board confers privilege of some kind but generally, other than getting to know one’s neighbors who also serve, it’s difficult to find people willing to do it. I think most shareholders would benefit from serving on their board for some period of time, there’s so much to learn about how the building is run, why certain rules are important, how the finances work, if there’s a repair needed, who pays, etc.
The prep and sale of building-owned units can be rather daunting for the board member in charge. Any thoughts or recommendations on how to keep the process from becoming a “hair puller”?
My best advice is to find amazing partners; we’ve been so fortunate to have you manage these projects. We simply don’t have the bandwidth on the board or with building management, to handle all the moving parts. The renovations and sales you’ve done for us have allowed us to increase our reserves, to fund critical capital projects and lead to higher comps for the building.