Another Roaring Fork Valley mobile home park could be nearing a sale as residents scramble to raise funding for a resident-owned model.
Residents of the 98-lot mobile home park learned on May 5 that their park and a self–storage facility on site would be listed for sale. A notice said the owner had an offer from an undisclosed buyer for both the park and the storage site.
But a discrepancy in the price in that May 5 notice led them to file a complaint with the Division of Housing’s Mobile Home Oversight Program within the Department of Local Affairs on Aug. 13, according to Tom Snyder, the attorney retained by the residents approximately one month ago.
The complaint challenges the concept of a portfolio sale in which the noticed price for the sale for both properties is less than the allocated price for each of the properties separately, Snyder said.
The included Purchase and Sale Agreement (dated May 1) between the owner and the unnamed potential buyer, included in the May 5 notice, states in English that the purchase price is $26 million: $23 million for the park and the storage site is $3 million.
Then in Spanish, the notice states that the price for the whole property is $26 million, but to purchase just the park would be $25.85 million and just the storage site would be $3 million.
The overwhelming majority of residents at the park identify as Latino, according to five-year resident Judith Alvarez. She is the founder and director of La Clínica del Pueblo in Carbondale and the director of Safe and Abundant Nutrition Alliance.
Snyder said the discrepancy impacts financing potential for the residents.
“The notice doesn’t say $23 million, so they can’t get anybody to pledge $23 million,” Snyder said. “You would need that price to actually be offered in order to get financing for it.”
Still, to be competitive with the offer from the May 5 notice, the residents would need to buy both the park and the storage site.
Filing the complaint tolls the period of time in which it’s under review, which would push the deadline for the residents to submit an offer past 120 days from the last notice — a deadline defined in state law. Snyder said he expects it will take DOLA past that deadline, Sept. 2, to respond to the complaint.
If DOLA determines that a new notice must state the sale price is $23 million, Snyder said, that would restart the 120-day clock.
In the meantime, Alvarez said she and the Sopris Mountain Collective, which is what they named their resident organization, will continue to seek financing and subsidies to be able to submit an offer on their park.
She said receiving the notice was alarming for residents and they eventually organized interest to pursue a ROC model.
“I think it was between fear and concern. Many of my neighbors came to my door and asked me if I received [the letter] and if I knew what it meant — is the park for sale,” Alvarez said. This quote was translated from Spanish.
Cavern Springs mobile home park is located at 5387 County Road 154 in unincorporated Garfield County near Glenwood Springs. It is owned by Cavern Springs MHC LLC. According to research compiled by Aspen Journalism, that’s Maryland-based Horizon Land Management.
Horizon did not respond to an email request for comment by press time, nor did the owner’s attorney listed on the notice.
Alvarez said that when residents learned about the sale, the majority were interested in pursuing a resident-owned community model. But with the high asking price, they needed to secure subsidies to afford mortgage payments. She said lot rents average around $1,000 currently.
Tim Townsend, ROC program director with Boulder-based Thistle Community Housing, said that he’s met with Cavern Springs residents multiple times and remains open to working with them. But without at least $15 million in subsidies, the lot payments would rise more than residents could afford.
“We want to see it be a long-term success and make it a viable deal,” Townsend said. “An interest rate loan at the listing price for this community would be an astronomical rent increase on them.”
Alvarez said she and other residents have approached local and state government officials, but heard that the timing is off on grant cycles or that there is no money available now.
Park residents contacted Thistle to explore a ROC model during the last sale of the park in 2021. Townsend said it was similar circumstances with a high price and part of a portfolio sale that made it cost-prohibitive for the residents to pursue without a subsidy. The price of that sale was never recorded with Garfield County, which Aspen Journalism reported was due to a claimed statutory exemption from recording the document fee, which notes the sale price.
The situation is comparable to what the residents of Mountain Valley and Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Parks faced earlier this year, in which residents needed to raise outside funds to subsidize the mortgage necessary to be competitive against a third-party offer.
They are now under contract with their corporate owner after raising more than $14 million to subsidize a mortgage for the park through ROC Capital USA. They’re hoping to hit $20 million before closing.
Over $11 million of that money comes from local governments. Pitkin County and the city of Aspen both approved $3 million in commitments. Eagle County approved $2.5 million as a $1.5 million grant and $1 million loan. Snowmass Village and Carbondale both approved $1 million and Basalt — the first to dedicate funds — committed $500,000. Glenwood Springs committed $100,000.
Alvarez said she’s happy for them, but it’s hard knowing what could have been a reliable source of funding for Cavern Springs residents has already been largely claimed.
“I am happy that those families can end their stress,” Alvarez said, choking back tears. “We want the same opportunity that they had to be part of those conversations, the same guidance with whom to communicate.”
With over 90 households to consider, most of whom work as housekeepers, in construction or landscape work upvalley (according to an internal survey with more than 200 respondents), Alvarez said she’s worried about where everyone would go if they got priced out of their park under a new owner.
Snyder, who also represents the Aspen-Basalt park residents, said while he’s grateful for the local government and private sector support, the focus should shift.
“Rather than help on the demand side, meaning subsidizing the acquisition, the local governments really should turn their attention to the supply side and see if they can increase the supply,” he said.
The Sopris Mountain Collective is hosting a fundraiser yard and food sale at the Third Street Center in Carbondale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. There will be clothing, furniture, homemade Mexican food and much more. For more information on donations, contact soprismountaincollective@gmail.com.
