BRADENTON BEACH – The residents of the Pines Trailer Park have fallen short in their efforts to purchase the 86-unit waterfront mobile home park property.
In late January, Pines residents were informed that the Jackson family wanted to sell the park. In accordance with state law, the Pines residents were given the first right of refusal and the first chance to collectively purchase the 2.78-acre property for $16 million. Several residents’ meetings took place in the ensuing months and during that time, the Jacksons’ asking price increased by $250,000 to $16.25 million.
The most recent residents’ meeting took place on April 18. During that meeting, it was disclosed that the residents’ efforts to raise $10 million of the $16.25 million needed to purchase the property had fallen short.
It is not yet known who will purchase the Pines property or what will happen to the seasonal and full-time residents of the 86 mobile homes located in the mobile home park.
The park residents and others involved in the potential purchase of the Pines property had been reluctant to address the media while the efforts to purchase the park remained ongoing.
Later in the week, The Sun obtained the written minutes of the April 18 residents’ meeting.
Meeting minutes
According to the minutes, an attorney informed the park residents that no lenders were interested in loaning the residents’ proposed co-op the money needed to purchase the property.
Also according to the minutes, potential lenders don’t believe the Pines property is worth $16 million, partly due to the property’s coastal location and exposure to potential storm damage. High interest rates were mentioned as another contributing factor.
“We have collected $2 million in cash. $4 million more has been promised, with some full shares and some shares to be financed for a total of $6 million. We are over $4 million short of the needed funding. We are not in a position to sign the contract on April 21 unless a miracle occurs in the next three days. The Jacksons will not (self) finance more than $6 million. We need $10 million in cash and/or a loan from outside. We did not get enough investors. Less than half of the residents committed to purchasing a share. All homeowners who made payments will be reimbursed,” according to the minutes.
“When the park is sold, each resident will get a letter. If the buyer pays less than $16.25 million for the park, we have 10 days to match that offer,” the minutes note.
“The broker selling our park property on the open market has indicated that two groups are interested in the purchase and would plan to keep it as a park. We have no proof of this. At this point, it is our best-case scenario,” according to the minutes, which note that rent increases would be expected.
According to the minutes, “The new purchaser of the park will have to get the property rezoned in order to change the land use from a resident park to something else. It is hard to guess how long that process would take. If the new owner would decide to sell the park after their purchase, we would get the first right of refusal.”
The minutes note that mobile homeowners can still sell their homes if they want. The minutes note residents must continue to pay rent and follow the current park rules.
Additional insight
Ellen Scott is a longtime resident of the Pines. During the resident meetings, her son, Bernie Slicker, provided the Zoom teleconferencing capabilities that allowed residents and mobile homeowners to participate in the meetings from afar.
Slicker said the park residents were not given any timetable as to when a sale might take place or what might happen to the existing residents after that.
An alternative use of the property would result in many of the park’s full-time and seasonal residents moving off Anna Maria Island.
“With a private investor, my mom would likely have to be gone within six months to a year. We’re already looking for a place for her,” Slicker said.
Slicker noted many of the existing mobile homes could not be relocated and would face likely demolition if the Pines property is used for something other than a mobile home park.
“They’re all on wheels, but you can’t move them. In six months, they could just bulldoze everything down,” Slicker said.
Slicker said some mobile homeowners are understandably sad because they stand to potentially lose a lot of the money they invested in their homes.
Slicker said no specific names were mentioned regarding any developers, individuals or investors who may be interested in purchasing the Pines property and redeveloping it.
