In December 2019, LEAF closed two major loans to collectively organized residents of manufactured home parks, ensuring their long-term affordability and empowering residents to make their own decisions about park improvements.
ROC USA Capital provided $14.6 million with the support of LEAF’s $500,000 term loan for the purchase of Jo-Len Village, a 123-unit, age-restricted (55+) manufactured housing park in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
In early 2019, the park’s owner received an offer from a private company to purchase the park; the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) helped to organize and educate residents about the possibility of collectively purchasing the park as a resident-owned community (ROC). Once residents became familiar with the model, it was agreed that Jo-Len residents would go ahead with the formation of a ROC and the purchase of the park.
Up in Camden, Maine, LEAF participated in the financing of Mountainside ROC with Genesis Fund (a Maine-based CDFI) and Camden National Bank. The total transaction size was just over $2.1 million, with LEAF participating at $200,000. With 52 units of housing, the picturesque community sits at the base of Mount Megunticook, just two miles from the heart of Camden.
In both ROC transactions, tenant rents rose in the short-term in favor of long-term affordability as competitive housing markets, particularly in the case of Marlborough, drive up rents at comparable parks well above current levels.
