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Want to raise your kids with your besties? Now's your chance
In a rare opportunity to share property with all of your closest friends, the Oakland compound, known as Radish, is on sale after the founders say its group is outgrowing the space.
OAKLAND, Calif. - If you've dreamed of raising your kids with your besties, now's your chance. In a rare opportunity to share property with all of your closest friends, the Oakland compound, known as Radish, is on sale after the founders say its group is outgrowing the space.
They say people are happiest with the people they love, and it’s a community attracting young families who want to share life together.
Rare upscale compound built to support multiple families
The Radish community is a 14,000 square foot lot made up of seven units currently housing 28 people, including eight kids.
Husband-and-wife duo Phil Levin and Kristen Berman started the community in 2019.
"We ended up starting this place as basically what we saw as the place that we wanted to have kids," said Levin.
Now, the ready-made intentionally designed compound is on sale.
For $4-6 million, families can occupy seven private units and share amenities and communal spaces. No one needs to share a room.
"To actually make this work for us, we had to do a lot of work – so we built two new buildings. We built the whole backyard. We renovated a bunch of stuff," said Levin.
Outgrowing the property
It started with just seven people, and grew over the last seven years.
Kabir Dos Santos, who originally declined an offer to join the compound, was later convinced during the pandemic.
"During COVID, I was living by myself in my one-bedroom apartment going crazy, so I get a call from Kristen and they’re having a party and I was just like, ‘Oh you guys are doing something that I’m not doing,’" said Dos Santos.
Now, it’s filled with 20 adults and eight kids, with two more on the way.
They eat dinner together six nights a week and have "baby happy hour" with foamy milk for the toddlers.
It’s all in the name of happiness.
"The key innovation here is, we’re actually designing to be close to the people we love and the number 1 determinant in happiness is relationships, so if you want to be happy you should be close to the people you love," said Berman.
Communities like this are more common than you’d think.
Max Nelson, a realtor who specializes in co-owned compounds and helps folks find properties for groups to live in, said more people are looking for something like this in urban settings.
"I think a lot of people are realizing that they don’t want to leave the communities they’re working and living in," Nelson said.
Lines of people trying to tour the space
And, the interest is there.
"We did our first couple tour days and, I think, had over 70 people at each of them," said Levin.
Their goal is to sell to someone who will carry on what they’ve started.
What's next:
After the sale, the group will move between three properties in Alameda and Berkeley, which have larger units to accommodate their growing families.
"We’ve already planned things for how we will continue to gather in the different communities," said Dos Santos.
Radish founders will be hosting tours through the month of April for interested buyers. They will be taking offers in June.
To find out more, you can get information at buyradish.com.