Trustees signal preliminary interest in funding resident purchase of nearby mobile-home park amid $20.5M financing gap

Trustees discussed a time-sensitive effort to help residents purchase two nearby mobile-home parks that are on the market. Lauren, a town staff member working with West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, briefed the board on the resident-led financing strategy and a large funding gap the organizers say must be filled if residents are to match a private-corporate offer.

Lauren told trustees that the Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park (adjacent to the town wastewater plant) has 64 lots, while the Aspen Basalt Mobile Home Park has 75 lots. Organizers presented a combined offer on both parks and are structuring resident-owned community purchases for each park separately. Lauren said an investor-backed corporate offer exists and that residents forming resident-owned communities would have to match the seller’s acceptable terms; she described a reported funding gap of about $20,500,000 across the proposed transactions and said the residents’ expected initial lot-rent increase under a resident-owned purchase would be much smaller than the projected jump if a corporate buyer purchased the parks.

Lauren summarized other details trustees asked to confirm: residents in those parks make up a significant regional workforce and the park populations include more than 150 school-age children, with about 65 enrolled in Carbondale-area schools. She said the resident purchase model would replace a profit-driven owner with a resident-controlled cooperative corporation; residents would take a long-term loan (often 30 years) to acquire the park and set lot rents to cover operating costs and debt service rather than a private owner’s profit margin.

Trustees asked detailed procedural questions about offers, the seller’s ability to require that both parks sell together, and whether the town would place conditions on any municipal contribution (for example, long-term affordability covenants or loan-secured agreements that would require repayment if the resident cooperative dissolved). Trustees also asked how much of the town’s housing fund would be appropriate to consider; staff noted the town’s housing fund balance was roughly $1.5 million projected at year-end and that the fund supports multiple housing initiatives.

After discussion several trustees said they would be willing to support a municipal contribution in principle and suggested a working range for Carbondale of $500,000 to $1,000,000, provided organizers (Thistle Rock and West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition) return with details. Trustee comments varied: some trustees stressed urgency and the value of preserving existing affordable units and neighborhood diversity; others asked for more detail on capital needs and the mechanics of municipal protections and recapture agreements.

Trustees did not take a vote. Staff said organizers would be invited to a future meeting to answer specific questions about financing terms, long-term affordability protections and governance. Trustees asked staff to request a clearer estimate of the town’s likely share and to return with recommended terms and options before any formal commitment.