Dear cdrandom,
The historical origin of the word “condominium,” and its definition
under international law is that of “a territory in which two soverign
powers have equal rights.”
(http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condominium). From there it’s not too
difficult to see how the word might have evolved to mean “A real
estate project in which each unit owner has title to a unit in a
building, an undivided interest in the common areas of the project,
and sometimes the exclusive use of certain limited common areas,”
which is the way it is more commonly used today, particularly in the
U.S. and some European countries. The same concept is sometimes known
by alternative terms, such as “unit title,” or “commonhold.” (
http://www.concept2000homes.com/content/articles/glossary_a.html ).
Thirty years ago less than one percent of housing in the U.S. was of
the cooperative type, which includes condominium-style apartment
ownership. Today, however, that percentage has risen to over 15
percent and is growing. Here’s a link to a published paper
(“Collective Private Ownership of American Housing: A Social
Revolution in Local Governance”) discussing the history of this
evolution: http://www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/papers/nelson/Privateneighborhoods.pdf
A copy of the newsletter of the BEATT (Business, Education and The
Trades) , with a History of Condominiums is here:
http://www.condobiz.net/media/pdf/Hist.pdf .
Here’s a link to a more expansive definition of condominium, along
with a historical perspective:
http://www.propertymgmttraining.on.ca/onlinetraining/Lesson10condocoop.htm
More information on the history of cooperative ownership can be found
here: http://www.coophousing.org/HistoryofCo-ops.pdf
For further reading, look for a copy of “The Financing of
Cooperatives and Condominiums: A Retrospective,” by Richard J. Kane
(1999). A review from a syllabus for a course on real estate
development says, “Mr. Kane entertains and educates the reader with a
roller coaster ride through the legal and economic history of
condominiums and cooperatives in the United States in the 20th
century, tracking the evolution of financing techniques, structures
and trends in the real estate industry and their apparent cause and
effect relationship with economic cycles in the real estate markets.”
(http://www.law.indiana.edu/curriculum/obryan/b775/syllabus.shtml )
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Search terms used:
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Best wishes,
Byrd |
