RIP Sam Zell

A Legend

Christopher Ebert
May 22, 2023

The OG of the MHC industry passed away earlier this week. We all could be better investors understanding Sam’s playbook. Here is the best article/tweet/post/etc that I found this week, courtesy of @HayekAndKeynes on Twitter. Enjoy!

What We Are Reading

The Goods - Manufactured Housing

Sam Zell, contrarian billionaire real estate investor, dies — Chicago, IL

Sam Zell, the real estate investor who amassed an empire of apartment buildings, offices and mobile homes, earning the nickname “the grave dancer” for his ability to swoop up distressed real estate for a song, died Thursday. He was 81. His death was announced by Equity Residential, the multifamily REIT he founded.

A Tribute to Sam Zell: America’s #1 Mobile Home Park Owner — Castle Rock, CO

We have been huge fans of Sam Zell for decades – even before he entered the mobile home park business in the 1990s. We believe that Zell is the cause of many of the benefits that all mobile home park owners share today. But even more importantly, his focus on risk and downside is what made the “Grave Dancer” unique among his peers.

Low-income tenants lack options as old mobile home parks are razed — Phoenix, AZ

Alondra Ruiz Vazquez and her husband were comfortable in Periwinkle Mobile Home Park for a decade, feeling lucky to own their mobile home and pay about $450 a month for their lot in a city with spiraling rents.

Pines Trailer Park purchase offer accepted — Bradenton, FL

A May 8 letter Largo-based attorney David Luczak sent to the Pines Trailer Park Homeowners Association board members addresses the sale of the waterfront mobile home park. The accepted purchase offer appears to give the Pines Trailer Park’s permanent and seasonal residents at least five years to remain in their mobile homes and make their future plans.

Scars linger one year after deadly tornado struck Gaylord — Gaylord, MI

Shannon Gagnon can sit on her porch and see where her house once stood. A block that used to be packed with houses now has driveways that lead to nowhere. Bright yellow dandelions dot the grass-covered area. Shards of debris are packed into the dirt. Fresh gravel is a sign new homes are on the way.

Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park supporters stage another protest to save homes — Cleveland, OH

A trailer sent a loud protest message on behalf of Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park residents at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy fundraiser Friday, May 19.

Mobile home tenants updated about their legal cases — Princeton, NJ

Mobile home park tenants anxiously listened for updates Tuesday as attorneys with Mountain State Justice outlined the status of two lawsuits addressing how new owners in some cases doubled the rent they pay for their homes lots.

Governor hurt mobile home residents with veto — Missoula, MT

Montana’s manufactured homeowners had just two minutes to defend their homes in hearings on HB 889 sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Karlen of Missoula, yet they persuaded the House and the Senate to adopt a modest package of protections for park residents confronting large out-of-state private equity firms buying up the parks on which their homes rest.

Offer to buy Pines Park includes 5-year break for homeowners — Bradenton, FL

Homeowners in the Pines Trailer Park, 103 Church Ave., Bradenton Beach, received notice May 8 of an offer from an unknown entity seeking to purchase the park land.

Laurinburg mobile home park in peril for residents — Laurinburg, NC

63-year-old Tina Perry has lived at the Town and Country Estate mobile home park, situated between the new and old Hillside Cemeteries in Laurinburg, for 36 years.

North Port now crafting resolution to fix FEMA trailer problem — Bradenton, FL

North Port city officials are now working on a resolution for an Emergency Housing Declaration that would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to place larger mobile homes on single-family lots. The commission could vote on the matter as soon as its May 23 meeting.

Hialeah wants to annex their neighborhood. They just want better roads and services — Miami, FL

The Blue Bell trailer park in the Brownsville neighborhood has mobile homes of every color. Green, pink, orange, blue — the 137 multi-colored units are spread across several acres of land along Northwest 37th Avenue.

The eviction of mobile home residents happened by design. Zoning reform can prevent it — Phoenix, AZ

The same week that the Phoenix City Council was debating providing a mobile home zoning overlay at three mobile home parks that are facing imminent eviction and displacement, another mobile home park at the I-17 and Indian School Road showed up for sale on Zillow.

Regulatory and Affordability

Exclusionary zoning at root of nation's housing crisis. (Link)

Public Markets Corner

Petite Retreats Opening Tiny House Container Village Near Wisconsin Dells

Yukon Trails Camping Resort invites the public as they showcase how fun it can be to vacation in an innovative and sustainable tiny house container rental surrounded by large pines and massive oak trees. Yukon Trails Tiny House Container Village is the latest in a series of unique accommodations Petite Retreats has launched across the country since 2016. The village consists of five recycled shipping containers and is part of Yukon Trails Camping Resort, located less than 15 minutes from action-packed Wisconsin Dells in Central Wisconsin, offering plenty of family-friendly amenities and activities this summer. Each of the five specially designed tiny house containers measure from 160 to 320 square feet, sleeps two to four guests, and comes fully equipped with a kitchen, full bathroom, Wi-Fi, individual patios, and its own unique personality reflected in the design and décor.

Manufactured Housing Properties Inc. Announces Results For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023

Manufactured Housing Properties Inc. (OTC: MHPC), whose principal activities are to acquire, own, and operate manufactured housing communities, today announced operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2023.