Capital City-Montevista Mobile Home Park residents raise $11.5 million to stay in their homes
It's hard enough to afford or rent one home in Denver, let alone an entire mobile home park. The residents of Capital City/Montevista Mobile Home Park in the Westwood neighborhood defeated the odds when they raised nearly $11.5 million to buy the land their homes sit on.
This is a community of hardworking families in Denver, and after the mobile park home went up for sale last year, the community rallied to find solutions.
After ROC also known as Resident Owned Communities pulled out of helping out in February due to safety concerns. The community was worried, but then Sharing Connexion, a nonprofit that connects nonprofits and affordable housing organizations to real estate solutions, stepped in. Now, they'll be the owner for up to three years until residents are ready to take over the park.
On Sunday, Montevista Mobile Home Park neighbors celebrated their victory and also held a fundraiser to help continue to raise funds in order to make this a reality.
Residents of the park like Sandra Gonzales are feeling a sigh of relief after learning about the news.
"It feels good, it releases some pressure," said Gonzales. People like her are happy to know they will be able to stay in their homes.
"When you have kids, it's hard for you to go into an apartment because they right away ask how many children, how many dogs…and when you have kids, it's hard to rent," said Gonzales.
Six years ago, Gonzales bought her trailer home and began renting land at this mobile home park after her previous home burned down. She now lives there with her daughter and grandchildren. She lives off her social security check and takes care of grandchildren while her daughter goes to school.
For Gonzales, the monthly rent at the mobile home park is $950 and her utility expenses usually amount to around $100. This affordable housing option is a rare find in the city.
"I only had enough money to buy the trailer, that was it, and that's all I could afford," said Gonzales.
She's not the only one fighting to stay in her home. Her story is far from alone, which is what made it so hard when the landowner decided to sell.
Andrea Chiriboga-Flor with 9to5 Colorado has been helping this community with this effort.
"I've been working in mobile home parks for about 10 years; I've seen so many shut down, and this is the first time that the owner wants to sell to the residents, and the residents are ready to take on that mission," said Chiriboga-Flor.
While the owner still has to accept the offer, there's still a mobile park zoning issue. Councilwoman Jamie Torres is working on this. Last Fall city council passed a moratorium on mobile home park development citywide until April 2024.
Although the owner still has to accept the offer, a lingering concern revolves around the mobile park zoning issue. Councilwoman for District 3 Jamie Torres is actively working to address this matter. Last November, the city council implemented a citywide moratorium on mobile home park development, extending until April 2024.
"This is affordable housing that we need to preserve, now we have to build zoning language, and it is not important just for the city; that's important for this community to get financing," added Torres.
So that families like Gonzales can continue to live in this community.
Residents from Capital City/Montevista have been organizing their community since July 2022 to purchase the land underneath their homes. For the first 7 months residents and 9to5 Colorado worked with Resident Owned Communities (ROC) but they cut their contract after a risk assessment that residents didn't agree with. The community realized they had to start all over again in February to find $11.5 million and an organization willing to act as an owner of the park until the residents are able to take over. During this time we were racing against the clock to be able to submit an offer to the landlord before the first 120 days were up on August 17th, 2023.
Residents did not give up.
Sharing Connexion has stepped in to be the owner for up to around three years or until the residents are ready to take over the park on their own. The community almost has all the funds committed to purchasing the park and is waiting eagerly for the owner to sign the agreement and accept the offer, which the community expects will happen soon.
