Two mobile home parks accept offer for resident ownership following initial rejection

The current owners of the Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Park and Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park on Monday, July 28, accepted an offer from the residents of those parks to purchase the communities for $42 million. 

The two communities have been working towards converting their respective mobile home parks into “Resident-Owned Communities,” or ROCs. An ROC functions similarly to a mortgage on a standard house; however, instead of one person paying their mortgage monthly, the entire community pays it down as rent. 

The communities have been working with Thistle, a Boulder-based non-profit that manages various affordable housing schemes in Boulder, and the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, a Roaring Fork-based non-profit also focused on affordable housing. Thistle’s ROC wing is assisting in the Roaring Fork Valley mobile homes park purchase. Thistle is working with ROC USA to provide the additional $22 million loan needed to meet the $42 million asking price. 

The offer was initially rejected on grounds of “language,” according to Thistle ROC Director Tim Townsend. 

“Basically, our team and (the owner’s) attorneys went back to the original offer, and we amended a couple pieces that they requested in the language,” Townsend said. “They were required to send back the terms they would need in order to accept it, they sent those back to us, and we were able to negotiate on a couple of things.”

he confirmed they were able to work with “pretty much everything else.”

Between various local governments in the Roaring Fork Valley, private businesses, and fundraisers, the communities are still about $6 million short of the $20 million dollar goal for the purchase, he added. 

That does not affect their ability to follow through on the sale, however. The $20 million dollar goal was set to keep rent at levels similar to the current rent. If they are not able to raise that full $20 million, the communities can seek additional lenders to fill the gap. 

“If they don’t meet that $6 million, then they will come back, and (Thistle) will present to their final package on their loan and what the associated rent increase would be,” Townsend said. 

The closing date for the transaction will take place in mid-October. Until then, residents and community members will be able to continue to raise funds toward that $20 million dollar goal. 

So far, the biggest ticket donors have been local governments, including Aspen, Pitkin County, Basalt, Snowmass, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs. Private businesses have also contributed, like Atlantic Aviation and Aspen One. 

Despite the $6 million remaining and many big ticket donations already in, Townsend is confident that more donors will contribute in the lead up to the closing date.

“I would predict big ticket donors to come in now that it is under contract because it’s tangible,” he said. “It’s real — the contract has been accepted. The hard part of the negotiations are done, and now it’s just getting to the finish on closing.”