General

Florida developers looking at mobile home parks

Across Florida, commercial real estate developers are buying up mobile parkland. Considering the lack of upkeep of many of these mobile parks, this is no easy undertaking. Trailer owners often have abandoned their broken down trailers. Besides removal of these trailers, creation of new plans for use and development of the land is required. This includes building of grocery stores, movie theaters, malls or upscale housing on the property.

Mobile homes house large percentages of citizens in our state. Elderly residents and members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida have occupied many of these mobile parks. However, large numbers of mobile parks have closed in recent years. Increases in land costs in part causes issues with keeping mobile parks open. This is especially true of smaller parks. Also, mobile park communities have not aged well. There’s been resistance to moving new homes into mobile home communities that are 40-years-old.

Along with developing the property, arrangements for relocating residents is required. For example, The Florida Mobile Home Relocation Trust paid $2 million for moving residents living in 20 closed mobile parks during recent years. It’s a difficult undertaking accommodating these residents under such circumstances because not all tenants will wish to move.

There’s a need for experienced real estate attorneys anytime a commercial development takes place to make certain all transactions go smoothly. This requires the making of many considerations regarding land use and development. Financing in particular is never a simple undertaking.

More importantly, developments such as these oftentimes lead to disputes. As we have often seen, disputes lead to costly delays. Legal representation is also required in resolving disputes and allowing developers to keep plans on track.

Source: Tampa Bay Times, “Developers moving in on Florida mobile home parks,” Susan Taylor Martin, March 26, 2015

Mon Aug 27, 2:32pm