A mobile-home park in Tempe becomes a ghost town.
Longtime residents see neighbors desert homes at Tempe mobile park
Syndi Flores, 22, and her family were told they had six months to vacate the mobile-home park she’s called home most of her life.
The deadline was Friday for them and the 42 other families who lived at Tempe Mobile Home Park, near University Drive and Smith Road. Only a few remained leading up to it.
Syndi, whose family spent recent weeks packing up, called it a ghost town. Cement pads mark where mobile homes once stood. Graffiti mars abandoned trailers.
“There used to be kids playing around out here all the time; now it’s just quiet,” she said.
Arizona-based Treehouse Group cleared out the community after it sold the mobile-home park to a developer with other plans, which are still under wraps.
The purchaser has not yet been disclosed in public documents, and Treehouse did not respond to requests for details on the buyer or plans for the property.
Syndi was in kindergarten at Thew Elementary School when her family moved to the park.
They said the area was nice, everyone helped one another, and the rent was cheap: $300 per month in 2000. That included water, sewer, trash and maintenance.
The rent climbed to $505 through the years and no longer included maintenance, but it remained an affordable option. The rent was less than half the $1,232 monthly average in Tempe.
The cheap rent allowed the family to work and for Syndi and her sister, Jenny, to attend nearby Arizona State University.
Jenny graduated in 2016, and Syndi followed this spring. Both earned degrees in education.
Syndi said she hopes to someday teach at her old elementary school.
“This is my home,” she said through tear-filled eyes.
Originally, when residents were notified of the closure, the family planned to move their home with financial help from the state. But the $7,500 in state relocation funding wasn’t enough for the movers they spoke with.
Instead, they opted for $1,800 in relocation funding the state offers to those who abandon their mobile homes.
Some park residents found new locations for their homes, although no options were open in Tempe. Deep tire marks and stray furniture are all that’s left of some.
Other residents simply left their homes. “They just got up and left in the middle of the night,” Syndi said, gesturing to a nearby home. “No one knows where they went, and no one has heard from them.”
The community that once gathered for potlucks, birthdays and holidays is scattered.
Instead of seeing neighborhood children playing in the streets, Syndi said, her family watched strangers rummaging through abandoned mobile homes. The family no longer felt safe in the neighborhood, particularly as they tried to pack at night to avoid the heat.
Her father, at one point, wanted to stay to watch their home, but her mother protested, worried about the people they’ve seen going in the vacant homes at nights.
One of the trailers, which was home to a mother and two children, is abandoned, with broken windows and vulgar graffiti on the interior walls.
“I’ve been seeing lots of teenagers going in and out of there,” said her mother, Rayo Gasca. “I think they’ve been partying in there.”
The Flores family is moving on, too. The family searched metro Phoenix for affordable housing for months, initially finding a place in Mesa before discovering it was too small. Syndi’s mom eventually found an apartment for $830 per month just 6 miles away.
They signed the lease at the start of the month, slowly packed the contents of their 18-year home and spent the first night there last week.
“Still kinda weird waking up in a new place,” Syndi said, adding that their new place is closer to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and the sounds of planes on approach take some getting used to.
The family’s story is not unique in Arizona. Tempe’s Pony Acres disappeared a few years ago, and Mesa Royale mobilehome park in Mesa is slated for redevelopment.
Investors have spent more than $232 million on 35 metro Phoenix manufactured-home parks so far in 2018, according to an Arizona Republic analysis. The sold parks are new and old and most are located near freeways or light rail.
That’s more than double the money investors poured into Valley mobilehome parks during all of 2015, the second-biggest year ever for sales.
Some investors continue to run the parks, while others, such as at Tempe Mobile Home Park, do not.
Syndi said she assumes the mobilehome park will transform into homes for new families.
“I’m sure it’s going to be bigger and nicer, and it’s going to catch people’s eyes, but for me, it’s always going to be tough to drive by it,” she said.
Republic reporter Catherine Reagor contributed to this article. Reach the reporter at jerod.macdonald@republicmedia.com. On Twitter, @JerodMacEvoy.