Mobile home complex has new owner versed in parks

Chicago company with lots of sites buys Mary Manor Estates

SUNNYVALE >> A mobile home park in Sunnyvale has been bought by a real estate company from Chicago that owns and manages manufactured housing communities nationwide.

Hometown America Communities has purchased Mary Manor Estates, according to documents filed March 22 at the Santa Clara County Recorder's Office.

The company, acting through an affiliate, paid $39 million for the mobile home park, the county property records show.

The sellers were several families and family trusts that had jointly owned the property.

Hometown America bought the Sunnyvale mobile home complex through an all-cash deal, the county records show.

Located at 125 N. Mary Ave. in Sunnyvale, Mary Manor Estates offers 116 spaces for mobile home units.

The purchase is the second in recent years in Sunnyvale for Hometown America Communities. In 2019, the company paid $237.4 million for Plaza del Rey, an 800unit mobile home community near the southwest corner of Lawrence Expressway and Tasman Drive.

After the purchase, some residents of Plaza del Rey raised fears that rent increases for the lots beneath their houses were making it exceedingly difficult for them to sell their mobile homes.

The high lot costs have chased away potential buyers or forced sellers to slash their asking prices, some homeowners said.

The latest purchase took place as home prices and apartment rental rates have zoomed higher in the

Bay Area.

Mobile home parks are often seen as a way for Bay Area residents to find refuge from the rising costs for shelter that have weighed down homeowners and renters.

Yet these residential complexes can also be viewed as choice sites for replacement and redevelopment.

In May 2021, a homebuilder bought Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Park in San Jose next to the worldfamous Winchester Mystery House. The mobile homes are being replaced by apartments and singlefamily residences.

The residents of Winchester Ranch Mobile Home

Park were worried about being displaced by the new housing, but an agreement allowed them to continue living in the area. Existing residents can live in the new homes being developed by Pulte Homes. And mobile home park residents who decided to stay on the property were allowed to live in temporary housing either on-site or off-site during construction.

People who chose to move away from the property were provided with a relocation package.

In the case of Mary Manor Estates, the property is now in the hands of a company that owns at least 66 manufactured home properties in 12 states, according to the company's website.

“Our properties are known nationwide for their quality amenities, professional onsite management, and the affordable lifestyle they provide for our residents,” the company states on its website.

In the Bay Area, Hometown America owns mobile home parks in several Bay Area cities, including San Jose, Antioch, Hayward, and the just-bought Sunnyvale complex.

“We provide an affordable pathway to homeownership for thousands of individuals and families,” according to the Hometown America Communities website.