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UpdatesRecent Updates can be found here.June 19, 2010 For the last four years, an IMC search committee has been diligently looking for property to create a residential retreat center on the Peninsula. We are quite inspired by the vision of offering retreats throughout the year with Gil, Andrea and other Vipassana teachers. The committee has explored over a hundred properties. In the process, we have learned how challenging it is to find property that is the right location, size, zoning, price, and neighbors’ acceptance. The suitable properties we have found cost at least 4 million dollars, well above the $2.4 million we currently have for this project. There are a couple of such properties in the La Honda area that we have found quite outstanding. We are continuing our search, and hope that a creative opportunity and/or additional funds will allow us to have our own retreat center. As many of us have benefited immensely from participating in meditation retreats, we aspire to support many more people in experiencing this benefit. Photos of one of the properties we would like to buy if we can find additional money are avaiable at http://www.insiteretreat.com/
March 1, 2010
We have had to pass on properties because they were zoned under the Coastal Commission aegis, were under Fish and Game Commission control, or were subject to the Williamson Act—all of which would limit or prohibit our ability to build. So, one criteria of our search is that the zoning on these parcels must be classified as Resource Management (RM). We have also talked with POST (Peninsula Open Space Trust) about possibilities of partnership as they often have access to land that they make available to partners. If you know of any suitable property within 40 minutes of IMC or if you or anyone you know has connections with a nonprofit that owns property and might like to sell, we would love to hear from you. We would also be interested in churches, schools, or other building sites. If you can help with this search, please e-mail Carol Collins or call (408) 354-5893.
February 2008
If you know of any suitable property within 40 minutes of IMC or if you or anyone you know has connections with a nonprofit that owns property and might like to sell, we would love to hear from you. We would also be interested in churches, schools, or building sites.
June 2007 We found an enticing 2-acre parcel in the county area of San Mateo off Skyline Boulevard. It was fairly flat, sunny, and about 20 minutes from IMC. Unfortunately, due to several factors we decided to pass on the property. The Tian Yuan Taoist administration site is for sale in Burlingame. It is quite large, on 6 acres, however, at $10 million—a little beyond our financial means! We continue our discussions with Simon Turkalj and his co-housing group, Wild Plum. They are looking into various sites, which would be large enough to include our retreat center. Two realtors, commercial and residential, are checking their databases daily for properties that might meet our criteria. Recently a sangha member suggested that we look in Foster City, which is quiet, with ponds, fountains, trees, paths, etc. I did drive around the city, and indeed it is lovely. I have contacted our commercial broker requesting that he check into available sites. I have just subscribed to Loop Net, which is a commercial internet site offering links to specified criteria. During the past 4 months we have looked at 50+ sites and talked with sellers and realtors. Definitely we are in a proactive mode. If you happen to see a possible site of an acre or more, please e-mail Carol Collins or call (408) 354-5893.
January 2007 As many of you are aware, we began our search for a residential retreat center property eight months ago. To date, our search committee has looked at more than thirty properties and has done in-depth research on four of the most promising ones. The last of the four was the 2.8-acre First Congregational Church campus in Redwood City, a lovely property that would have met our needs in many ways but in the end proved to be out of reach financially for us at this time. However, as our search progresses and word of it spreads, we are hearing from more and more people who are interested in having a retreat center close to IMC. We have also received several more financial gifts, bringing us closer to the amount we believe we will need in order to purchase property in the mid-Peninsula area. Two new developments have occurred in the New Year. First, Carol Collins, a retired real estate agent and new IMC Board Member, has graciously agreed to chair the Search Committee. She is replacing Susan Ezequelle, who is taking a respite from searching for real estate. Second, in addition to IMC's own independent search process, we will also consider partnering with Simon Turkalj's co-housing group, Wild Plum, which is looking for a tranquil site with a rural feel to it. Wild Plum's members share an interest in contemplative practice. For these types of properties, we would, like Wild Plum, approach land sellers as a "conservation buyer," meaning that we will plan to leave as much of the land as is possible untouched and wild on our site. This approach would, for certain properties, make us a good fit with the efforts of conservation groups and city planning departments. We will also continue to look at existing commercial properties that come on the market, such as nursing homes and the like.
Several volunteers have already offered their services in the following key areas:
May 2006, from Susan Ezequelle, Retreat Center Search Committee I wanted to give you all an update on what has been happening with Villa Isabelle, the property in San Mateo that we were considering purchasing for an IMC retreat center. Many of you had the chance to visit the property last Sunday and were excited about how beautiful it was and how perfectly it fit our needs. Upon closer inspection, however, we found quite a few water-related problems in the main building and on the grounds that would be difficult and expensive to fix. It also appeared that some of the construction on the property was not permitted. From the start the owner was not open to negotiating on the price and when we brought these shortcomings to her attention she decided she did not want to continue to engage with us in any kind of real estate deal. Those of us who were involved in looking closely at the property think this is a very good outcome that saved us considerable time and energy dealing with a difficult situation. There are several valuable things that came out of this first look at a possible property for a retreat center. First, it gave momentum to the process of thinking and planning seriously for such a property. In the coming weeks we will be more fully informing and including all of you, our community, in developing the vision and plan for such a retreat center. Second, we now know something we only strongly suspected at the start -- that there are many people in the community who really like the idea of having a relatively small (20-25 people) and local retreat center connected to IMC. Last, we are encouraged by all the support and expertise we have on hand to help make this dream a reality and our plan is to continue to explore the local real estate options with our agent. Please be sure to send me an email if you happen to see or hear of a property (a building or land that we can build on) that you think may be suitable for an IMC retreat center. It should be within about 15-20 minutes drive from IMC. Be well, |