The deal makes Hidden Circle the 14th resident-owned manufactured home community in Maine, advancing a model that has preserved affordable housing for more than 15 years.
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Residents of Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park, at 6 Hidden Circle in the Franklin County town of Jay, formed a cooperative and recently completed the acquisition of the land beneath their 31 homes for $1 million.
“We had to purchase the park because the alternative could be worse,” said Travis White, a Hidden Circle resident and president of the cooperative’s volunteer board. “Someone could come in here and hike up the rents and eventually push people out of their homes. Now, people can feel financially safe and safe in their homes.”
Financing came from the Brunswick-based Genesis Community Loan Fund, the Mobile Home Park Preservation Fund administered by MaineHousing and donors to the Maine Community Foundation. Foundation donors provided an impact investment and a grant that enabled Genesis to offer below-market financing and a grant to help keep lot rents affordable as the new cooperative begins operations.
“Affordable housing is essential to healthy communities across Maine, especially in rural areas," said Deborah Ellwood, Maine Community Foundation’s president and CEO.
The investment helps preserve affordable housing and gives residents control over their housing costs and over how they are governed, Ellwood said.
“Now that we own the community, we can make improvements, such as bringing our septic system up to code and updating our electrical system,” said White.
The seller was New Riverside Farms LLC, a real estate investment firm in Holmes Beach, Fla.
Cooperative ownership
Hidden Circle residents formed the cooperative last year with the support of the Cooperative Development Institute, a New England nonprofit that supports communities in making transitions to resident ownership. The institute helped the residents organize and negotiate the purchase price.
The purchase makes Hidden Circle the 14th resident-owned manufactured home community in Maine, advancing a model that has preserved affordable housing for more than 15 years.
Maine's more than 475 manufactured home communities — the most in any New England state — are home to some 20,000 residents who are vulnerable to ownership changes that can bring substantial rent hikes. The communities have increasingly attracted large, often out-of-state investors, according to Maine Community Foundation.
Unlike most homeowners, residents of mobile home communities typically own their homes but rent the land beneath them. When the communities are bought by large investor-owners, residents often experience a significant increase in lot rents and other fees, the foundation said.
State law
Hidden Circle was the first mobile home park to benefit from a right of first refusal state law that went into effect last October, making it easier for residents to purchase their communities when they go up for sale. The law requires owners of manufactured home communities to notify residents when their park goes up for sale.
The Maine Legislature created the Mobile Home Park Preservation Fund to help leverage support from private lenders, community banks and municipalities, and also to stabilize costs for residents.
The law and the Mobile Home Park Preservation Fund have helped communities compete successfully for ownership while leveraging financing from community lenders, foundations, municipalities and other partners.
