The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and the ROC USA announced on Wednesday that the two have partnered to provide a loan to the 36 residents of Longmont Mobile Home Community at 525 15th Ave. so the residents could purchase the land and restructure the property as a resident-owned cooperative.
The city of Longmont also supported the transaction with a no-interest, deferred-payment $300,000 loan from its Affordable Housing Fund.
Known as LMP Co-op, the cooperative eliminates the homeowners’ risk of displacement, gives them more control over lot rent fluctuations, and preserves affordable home ownership in Longmont.
“When the opportunity came up for us to buy the community, it was pretty exciting,” said Mike King, resident and president of the community’s co-op board. “We own it and are able to set the lot rent based upon an actual budget. We did it!”
Cris White, CHFA executive director and CEO , in a statement said, “We congratulate the Longmont MHC homeowners on their tremendous accomplishment. They’ve worked hard to ensure their long-term housing stability. Manufactured home communities are an important naturally occurring affordable housing option for Coloradans and CHFA is proud to play a role in this preservation effort.”
Paul Bliss, owner of the park was approached by affordable housing advocates to consider selling the property to its residents, and agreed, putting a $3.2 million asking price on the table in 2018.
With the loan secured, the Longmont Mobile Home Community will become the second resident-owned mobile home park in the state, though it’s become a proven model in multiple states with ROC USA and its nine affiliates having helped nearly 250 manufactured home communities restructure as co-ops, preserving nearly 17,000 homes in the process.
