Financial Summary
Investment Perks
$100,000+ Investment
(1) Annual coworking membership at Commonplace (about $1,500 value), (2) Six month Table Lifestyle membership with massage, personal health, movement, and nutrition options, (3) Four tickets to six shows OR use of event space for one day, (4) Free Iron Fish barn rental for private party (Sat excluded, must be used by 2020, guest responsible for planning/food/bev costs), (5) Higher Grounds consultation on a personalized home brewing system and $200 Coffee Bar credit, (6) Large plaque/brick with your name in the building, and (7) One week per year in the Commongrounds Coop suite overlooking the Boardman River.
$50,000+ Investment
All $10,000+ perks AND (1) Annual coworking membership at Commonplace (about $1,500 value), (2) Three month Table Lifestyle membership with massage, personal health, movement, and nutrition options, (3) Two tickets to six shows, (4) Two nights per year in Commongrounds Coop suite overlooking Boardman River, (5) Free use of gallery event space/guided tour for private party at Iron Fish Distillery (must use by 2020), (6) Private Higher Grounds coffee cupping and tour for six people, and (7) large plaque/brick with your name in the building.
$500+ Investment Level
(1) Exclusive building tours before grand opening, (2) Free admission to grand opening party, (3) Free admission to annual investors party (like a flock star), (4) Swag, (5) Discounted food/drink and free admission to events on community investor days (2x per year), (6) Like something a little more 'concrete'? How about your name in our recognition/gratitude wall!
$10,000+ Investment Level
All $2,000+ perks AND (1) free Commongrounds Coop membership (about $100 value), (2) One free Table Movement Studio class per month, (3) Two tickets to two shows (and early access to choose tickets), (4) Six months Higher Grounds coffee subscription, and (5) Ten hours of meeting time per year in Commonplace.
$2000+ Investment Level
All $500+ perks AND (1) daily beverage discounts including $1 Higher Grounds coffee Daily Brew, (2) 10% off first Iron Fish cocktail, (3) One free Commonplace coworking pass every month, (4) Three free Table Movement Studio classes per year, (5) One ticket to a show (and early access to select!) and (6) Like something a bit more 'concrete'? How about your name on our recognition/gratitude wall!
Hurry! These rewards expire Mar 8!
Limited (awesome) BONUS rewards for investors who commit to invest by the end of the day on 3/8! No need to attend the Flock Party event to receive the rewards if you have already invested. Each investor can choose ONE bonus reward from the list and first to invest gets first pick (quantities of each reward are limited). Rewards include ten-class packages at Table Movement Studio, reserved underground bike parking spot at Commongrounds, use of private event space at Iron Fish Distillery or the new event space in Commongrounds, one year subscription of Higher Grounds coffee, and much more! You can read more detail on the bonus rewards on our website.
Pitch Deck
Financials
Financial projections are subject to certain risks of the business and may not be achieved. Projections only contemplate projected cash flows, are unaudited and may not be formulated in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Consult the investment materials for more information on business specific risks and a discussion of the key risks that may impede the achievement of the revenue forecasts presented. There is no guarantee that an investment may achieve any level of return. Review our Risks of Investing before making an investment decision.
Q&A
Team

Kate Redman
Kate is a community enterprise attorney and founder of Commonplace Law and Commonplace, a coworking space and future tenant of Commongrounds.
Why Commongrounds?
"Because I can't wait to hang out in this building!"

Chris Treter
Chris is the co-founder of Higher Grounds Trading Company, future tenant of Commongrounds.
Why Commongrounds?
"To germinate community-based development that addresses the needs of the ecosystem, workforce, and local population with spaces that foster a sharing and collaborative economy."

Richard Anderson
Richard is the Co-owner of Iron Fish Distillery, Michigan's first farm distillery and future tenant in collaboration with Higher Grounds and a restaurant operator.
Why Commongrounds?
"Joining the Birdhouse allows me to work with a crazy great and audacious group of people working to create a values inspired intentional community and with it, an urban landscape that supports the talent that makes Traverse City what it can be."

Megan Olds, Fund Development
Megan supports communities and organizations as the founder of Parallel Solutions LLC, and serves on the board of directors of Commonplace, a coworking space and future tenant of Commongrounds.
Why Commongrounds?
"I’m energized by the opportunity for everyone in the community to invest and generate equity in a real estate development project."

Nan Perez, Construction Owners Representative
Why Commongrounds?
"Commongrounds encompasses some of my most treasured passions in my most treasured hometown: construction, building community & connections, and coffee. Let’s put a shovel in the ground!"

Ray Kendra, Architect
Ray is founder of Environment Architects and specializes in environmental, green design, and architecture throughout Northern Michigan.
Why Commongrounds?
"I want to help facilitate an integrated design and process for a unique community driven development."

Sakura Takano, Financing Lead
Why Commongrounds?
"I’m excited to optimize federal, state, and local resources to develop and implement workforce and housing solutions in Traverse City."

Elise Crafts, Communications
Elise is founder of Statecraft and co-director of Commonplace, future tenant of Commongrounds.
Why Commongrounds?
"I love people, animal puns, and well-designed spaces. I’m eager to connect with the many birds who make this project possible."

Joey DiFranco, Communications
Joey is the Creative Director at TentCraft, SEEDS board member and vintage camper enthusiast.
Why Commongrounds?
"I strongly believe that when we all work together as a community, amazing things happen in Traverse City."

Andrew Straley, Communications
Andrew is a digital marketer at TentCraft in Traverse City and proud early bird owner.
Why Commongrounds?
"I want to be a part of and help build a community that inspires the people of Traverse City."

Ed Bailey, Construction Management Advisor
Why Commongrounds?
"My interest in the project is about the opportunity to work with the people involved. Having a great project also helps."

Table Health

Pathways Preschool

Higher Grounds Trading Company

Commonplace

Iron Fish Distillery

Crosshatch

Hallmark Construction
Hallmark Construction is Northern Michigan's leading construction and development company, located in Traverse City, MI.
About Commongrounds Cooperative
Company Updates
Commongrounds Project Update! August 2019
August 20, 2019
It's hard to believe it is almost back-to-school time already! We hope you are all are enjoying these last official days of summer and gearing up for a beautiful fall.
This summer, the Commongrounds team has been hard at work on building design and assembling the financing pieces for our project. A huge thank you to our architect, Ray Kendra, and his team at Environment Architects for their tireless work on the project; and to the rest of our building team for their work (our Construction Manager, Hallmark, and our owner representatives Ed Bailey and Nan Perez). We feel very lucky to have such a dedicated and experienced team working on the project to make it great (and within budget ;).
We expect to break ground as soon as weather allows in spring 2020! We might do some soil clean-up on the property this fall, but the bulk of the project will start in the spring with completion by summer 2021. This is an update from our original plan to break ground this summer. In June, we realized it would likely be fall at the earliest by the time our building plans and financing were complete. Since fall is not the best time to break ground on a building in northern Michigan, we decided to wait until spring and bumped back some of our other timeline accordingly. We expect to have financing and building plans, including final construction bids and subcontracts in place at the beginning of the year in accordance with a building timeline that lets us hit the ground running as soon as weather allows in spring with building completion by summer 2021.
Why the delay? As we all have heard from other real estate developers, real estate development can sometimes take longer than expected because financing, building design, and bidding are complicated pieces that must fit together in just the right way. Commongrounds is particularly complicated because of our ownership and investment/equity structure. However, we continue to make good progress and are very excited about how the pieces are coming together. We received preliminary letter of loan terms from the bank in January, but the detailed building plans and bids will allow us to finalize bank financing and a loan guarantee from the USDA. When bank financing is finalized, we can start the official process for approval by the MEDC for grant and loan support for the project, which will also take a couple of months.
Some other highlights from this summer:
- 90% Complete Building Design Plans. We're designing the building right down to the electrical outlets. After receiving zoning approval for the conceptual building and site plan, our building team got hard to work designing the guts of the building. Plans were completed at the end of July and we are receiving updated preliminary bids. After that, we'll look at how build in some cost savings without sacrificing the quality and environmental protection aspects of the building to ensure that the project stays in budget with some room for contingencies.
- Community investment. We've been collecting investment from community owners and continue to develop equity investment from other community partners - so far, we have raised about $800k from 140+ investors, in addition to the $550k we raised to help purchase the land. We will share full details when we officially close on the public and private offering. We expect to officially close the Reg CF crowdfunding in September -- so if you haven't already invested, do so now before you miss the window (and the doors, flooring, green roof, and cafe space).
-8th Street reconstruction. If you've been in TC this summer, you know that the city has been doing a major rebuild of 8th Street, right in front of our building, to transform it from an eyesore that is the butt of community jokes to the most pedestrian- and bike-friendly street in town. They are starting to lay the cycle track and sidewalks with projected completion by the end of September. We're working with other businesses in the North Boardman Lake District and the DDA to plan a party to celebrate the street opening in early October. Stay tuned for more updates!
- Full Board development. Commongrounds has operated with an agile start-up board of Kate Redman, Chris Treter, and Richard Anderson to help design and mobilize Commongrounds, the building. We are now ready to build Commongrounds, the organization, which will prepare Commongrounds to be more than just a real estate development and also a space for community events and partnership. To build the organization, we are adding additional community members to the board and leadership committees this fall in order to add more depth, brains, experience, and friendly faces to the leadership team. We'll be announcing the board this fall, including the process for filling community-owner elected board seats, and looking for additional community owner volunteers interested in getting involved in leadership committees.
That's just a taste of what we've been up to -- we'll be sharing other updates with community owners this fall include, some updates in tenant-partners, overall community investment lessons learned, and future events. If you are not already an owner and would like to stay in the loop, visit www.commongrounds.coop and you can become an owner for $50.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to seeing you on 8th Street soon!
Investing $10k or more? Use this link.
March 27, 2019
Hey, there!
If you are receiving this email, you have been invited to invest in our "private" campaign. We can't talk about this one publicly (oh, those securities laws), but if you want to invest $10,000 or more, this is the campaign for you. Investment in public campaign is capped at a lower amount.
Today, I'm writing to ask you take action. We have 6 days left in our public crowdfunding campaign to reach our minimum investment goal. 71 people have pledged a commitment to invest in Commongrounds. Another 106 people have officially said they are "interested" on Localstake in the public campaign but not yet pledged commitment to a specific amount. And yet another 43 people, like you, have said you are "interested" in our private campaign.
If even half the people who have expressed interest in just the private campaign pledged $10,000 today, we would meet our minimum investment goal.
Will you help us close the gap to meet our goal? Just pledge the amount you will invest by logging into Localstake and clicking the green "commit to invest": https://localstake.com/businesses/commongrounds... .
Or, if you would like to invest less than $10,000 - check out our public campaign page at www.localstake.com. Both the public and private campaign investors receive the same terms.
If you are interested in investing but not yet comfortable, let us know what we can do to help.
a. Are you confused about the process?
b. Do you need more time?
c. Do you need more info about rewards?
d. Do you want more info about investment terms or the project overall?
Drop us a line and let us know how we can help. And please feel free to set up a one-on-one phone call or meeting with me (Kate), at https://calendly.com/commongrounds/invest.
A note on the Localstake process, in case you are confused about what it means to show "interest" or "commit": On Localstake, you can click that you are "interested" or you can click "commit to invest," and enter an amount. Localstake will only collect investment dollars when we reach pledged commitment for our minimum goal. So, until we reach pledges for our minimum goal, when you "commit" you are not immediately asked to put money in - instead, you are making a pledge that you will invest when we reach the minimum. This ensures you do not risk investing money unless we receive a minimum level of support from the community as a whole.
Thank you so much for your interest in the project. It is not an exaggeration to say that investment from supporters like you is what makes this project possible. Y'all rock.
With gratitude,
Kate
Today! Show Your Commongrounds Love on Facebook
March 22, 2019
If you have invested or are thinking about investing in Commongrounds, join the project partners in telling your friends and family to help spread the word! Starting today (Friday) at 2pm through this weekend, we are asking anyone who is interested in investing in Commongrounds to (1) Add the "investor" frame to their facebook profile photo (click here: www.facebook.com/profilepicframes/?selected_ove... to go directly to the frame); and (2) post a short testimonial stating who you are, why you are interested in investing in commongrounds, and what you are looking forward to doing in the building when it opens. And, oh, yeah - don't forget to tag @commongroundscoop in your post. Let us know if you have questions. Thanks, y'all. We appreciate you!
And if you have been thinking about completing your investment pledge but haven't pulled the trigger yet --- today could be a great to day to pledge ;) Please feel free to reach out with questions and remember that you click "commit" and enter an investment amount to complete your pledge.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kate
Commongrounds Project Receives Zoning Approval!
March 22, 2019
In an exciting update, the Commongrounds project received unanimous approval from the Traverse City Planning Commission for its site plan. Other than financing, the zoning approval was the most significant step yet to be completed in approvals for the project and keeps the project on its anticipated timeline to break ground by June 2019. To read more about the approval in local press, check out: https://www.traverseticker.com/news/three-eight...
Discussion
Risks & Disclosures
Company Updates
Commongrounds Project Update! August 2019
August 20, 2019
It's hard to believe it is almost back-to-school time already! We hope you are all are enjoying these last official days of summer and gearing up for a beautiful fall.
This summer, the Commongrounds team has been hard at work on building design and assembling the financing pieces for our project. A huge thank you to our architect, Ray Kendra, and his team at Environment Architects for their tireless work on the project; and to the rest of our building team for their work (our Construction Manager, Hallmark, and our owner representatives Ed Bailey and Nan Perez). We feel very lucky to have such a dedicated and experienced team working on the project to make it great (and within budget ;).
We expect to break ground as soon as weather allows in spring 2020! We might do some soil clean-up on the property this fall, but the bulk of the project will start in the spring with completion by summer 2021. This is an update from our original plan to break ground this summer. In June, we realized it would likely be fall at the earliest by the time our building plans and financing were complete. Since fall is not the best time to break ground on a building in northern Michigan, we decided to wait until spring and bumped back some of our other timeline accordingly. We expect to have financing and building plans, including final construction bids and subcontracts in place at the beginning of the year in accordance with a building timeline that lets us hit the ground running as soon as weather allows in spring with building completion by summer 2021.
Why the delay? As we all have heard from other real estate developers, real estate development can sometimes take longer than expected because financing, building design, and bidding are complicated pieces that must fit together in just the right way. Commongrounds is particularly complicated because of our ownership and investment/equity structure. However, we continue to make good progress and are very excited about how the pieces are coming together. We received preliminary letter of loan terms from the bank in January, but the detailed building plans and bids will allow us to finalize bank financing and a loan guarantee from the USDA. When bank financing is finalized, we can start the official process for approval by the MEDC for grant and loan support for the project, which will also take a couple of months.
Some other highlights from this summer:
- 90% Complete Building Design Plans. We're designing the building right down to the electrical outlets. After receiving zoning approval for the conceptual building and site plan, our building team got hard to work designing the guts of the building. Plans were completed at the end of July and we are receiving updated preliminary bids. After that, we'll look at how build in some cost savings without sacrificing the quality and environmental protection aspects of the building to ensure that the project stays in budget with some room for contingencies.
- Community investment. We've been collecting investment from community owners and continue to develop equity investment from other community partners - so far, we have raised about $800k from 140+ investors, in addition to the $550k we raised to help purchase the land. We will share full details when we officially close on the public and private offering. We expect to officially close the Reg CF crowdfunding in September -- so if you haven't already invested, do so now before you miss the window (and the doors, flooring, green roof, and cafe space).
-8th Street reconstruction. If you've been in TC this summer, you know that the city has been doing a major rebuild of 8th Street, right in front of our building, to transform it from an eyesore that is the butt of community jokes to the most pedestrian- and bike-friendly street in town. They are starting to lay the cycle track and sidewalks with projected completion by the end of September. We're working with other businesses in the North Boardman Lake District and the DDA to plan a party to celebrate the street opening in early October. Stay tuned for more updates!
- Full Board development. Commongrounds has operated with an agile start-up board of Kate Redman, Chris Treter, and Richard Anderson to help design and mobilize Commongrounds, the building. We are now ready to build Commongrounds, the organization, which will prepare Commongrounds to be more than just a real estate development and also a space for community events and partnership. To build the organization, we are adding additional community members to the board and leadership committees this fall in order to add more depth, brains, experience, and friendly faces to the leadership team. We'll be announcing the board this fall, including the process for filling community-owner elected board seats, and looking for additional community owner volunteers interested in getting involved in leadership committees.
That's just a taste of what we've been up to -- we'll be sharing other updates with community owners this fall include, some updates in tenant-partners, overall community investment lessons learned, and future events. If you are not already an owner and would like to stay in the loop, visit www.commongrounds.coop and you can become an owner for $50.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to seeing you on 8th Street soon!
Investing $10k or more? Use this link.
March 27, 2019
Hey, there!
If you are receiving this email, you have been invited to invest in our "private" campaign. We can't talk about this one publicly (oh, those securities laws), but if you want to invest $10,000 or more, this is the campaign for you. Investment in public campaign is capped at a lower amount.
Today, I'm writing to ask you take action. We have 6 days left in our public crowdfunding campaign to reach our minimum investment goal. 71 people have pledged a commitment to invest in Commongrounds. Another 106 people have officially said they are "interested" on Localstake in the public campaign but not yet pledged commitment to a specific amount. And yet another 43 people, like you, have said you are "interested" in our private campaign.
If even half the people who have expressed interest in just the private campaign pledged $10,000 today, we would meet our minimum investment goal.
Will you help us close the gap to meet our goal? Just pledge the amount you will invest by logging into Localstake and clicking the green "commit to invest": https://localstake.com/businesses/commongrounds... .
Or, if you would like to invest less than $10,000 - check out our public campaign page at www.localstake.com. Both the public and private campaign investors receive the same terms.
If you are interested in investing but not yet comfortable, let us know what we can do to help.
a. Are you confused about the process?
b. Do you need more time?
c. Do you need more info about rewards?
d. Do you want more info about investment terms or the project overall?
Drop us a line and let us know how we can help. And please feel free to set up a one-on-one phone call or meeting with me (Kate), at https://calendly.com/commongrounds/invest.
A note on the Localstake process, in case you are confused about what it means to show "interest" or "commit": On Localstake, you can click that you are "interested" or you can click "commit to invest," and enter an amount. Localstake will only collect investment dollars when we reach pledged commitment for our minimum goal. So, until we reach pledges for our minimum goal, when you "commit" you are not immediately asked to put money in - instead, you are making a pledge that you will invest when we reach the minimum. This ensures you do not risk investing money unless we receive a minimum level of support from the community as a whole.
Thank you so much for your interest in the project. It is not an exaggeration to say that investment from supporters like you is what makes this project possible. Y'all rock.
With gratitude,
Kate
Today! Show Your Commongrounds Love on Facebook
March 22, 2019
If you have invested or are thinking about investing in Commongrounds, join the project partners in telling your friends and family to help spread the word! Starting today (Friday) at 2pm through this weekend, we are asking anyone who is interested in investing in Commongrounds to (1) Add the "investor" frame to their facebook profile photo (click here: www.facebook.com/profilepicframes/?selected_ove... to go directly to the frame); and (2) post a short testimonial stating who you are, why you are interested in investing in commongrounds, and what you are looking forward to doing in the building when it opens. And, oh, yeah - don't forget to tag @commongroundscoop in your post. Let us know if you have questions. Thanks, y'all. We appreciate you!
And if you have been thinking about completing your investment pledge but haven't pulled the trigger yet --- today could be a great to day to pledge ;) Please feel free to reach out with questions and remember that you click "commit" and enter an investment amount to complete your pledge.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kate
Commongrounds Project Receives Zoning Approval!
March 22, 2019
In an exciting update, the Commongrounds project received unanimous approval from the Traverse City Planning Commission for its site plan. Other than financing, the zoning approval was the most significant step yet to be completed in approvals for the project and keeps the project on its anticipated timeline to break ground by June 2019. To read more about the approval in local press, check out: https://www.traverseticker.com/news/three-eight...