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CopyCatalyst

De Vrijkoop van Bajesdorp

Helping an Amsterdam free-space community explain why its cooperative housing model deserved serious money. I worked on the story, pitch and campaign around buying their future instead of waiting to be evicted from it.

De Vrijkoop van Bajesdorp is Amsterdam’s first “broedplaats” which is literally built by tenants and artists from the ground up. Based on fifteen years of experience and ideals of the Bajesdorp community, we create a cooperative, sustainable, and inviting free space with around 20 apartments and creative studios. This offers a social, not-for-profit alternative to the gentrification of Amsterdam.

Getting such a large communal project financed in the Netherlands is super tricky. Most Dutch banks don’t trust it, as it is a novel (but much-needed) approach to real estate
development. The only way to get it financed is to invest a decent amount of cash yourself, preferably forked out by a large crowd of dedicated supporters. I helped design the crowdlending campaign and co-wrote the investment brochure that brought in €600,000 and counting.