Millennium Housing, a nonprofit based in Newport Beach, Calif., purchased the community for $27 million from the Galland family in Provo, Utah.
According to Lisa Ketcham, secretary of the park's homeowners association, residents couldn't be happier.
 Lisa Ketcham, a resident of El Granada Manufactured Home Community, was a key player in helping nonprofit Millennium Housing purchase the community from a highly unpopular Utah-based landlord. |
With its 227 units, El Granada Manufactured Home Community is the largest bastion of affordable housing on the Coastside. For years residents felt they'd been fighting an uphill, almost futile battle, against their Utah-based landlord and property management firm, Kingsley Management, which imposed a series of rent hikes and additional water use charges on the mostly low-income population.
For residents, the sale is important for a number of reasons.
Ownership by Millennium Housing means permanent rent stabilization, promises of a well-maintained community and the ability to communicate openly with management - all things residents never had before.
It also delivers a sense of security and hard-earned peace of mind.
"I've seen such a change in the past four years from a climate of such fear and hopelessness to relief and empowerment and optimism," Ketcham said.
Deb Wong, who's lived in El Granada Manufactured Home Community with her husband, Michael, since 2002, said she is thrilled to have a new, more responsive landlord.
"We didn't think this day would ever come," she said.
"We're happy, we feel we have more control and the bottom line is people need to feel they have control over their homes and their environment. That's a really important thing."
But, for residents like the Wongs, making the dream come true came with a price.
Millennium Housing alone didn't have enough money to purchase the property outright.
Instead, residents voted for a one-time extra rent hike to finance the sale of $30 million in revenue bonds,
which were used by Millennium Housing to purchase the $27 million property.
The remaining $3 million was used to set aside emergency, rental assistance and capital improvement funds.
The bonds were approved by the County Board of Supervisors April 20.
George Turk, president of Millennium Housing, couldn't say for sure what would be done first, especially in light of the limited budget, but some of his plans included drainage improvements, remodeling the clubhouse, providing play areas for kids, creating a new building for the homeowners association and bringing in much-needed social services.
The county provided the community with a $350,000 block grant to help fund capital improvements.
Turk said that money is greatly appreciated and will go a long way toward making necessary improvements.
"The park needs a lot of work so between our funds and the county money we can get started," he said.
In what's seen by some as the catalyst that compelled the former owners to sell, the board of supervisors took a landmark step imposing rent control for eight mobile home parks in unincorporated San Mateo County.
The supervisors instructed its staff
to craft an ordinance that would allow increases just once per year at no
more than 75 percent of the inflation rate.
By press time Kingsley Management did not return a call to the Review to comment on the sale.
Property manager Nate Nelson is, however, on the record as saying he thought the park was one of the nicest on the coast and he said that residents, as well as management, had a hand in that.
"We sincerely appreciate the input from the homeowners association," he said.
Nelson listed improvements he said management had made, including trimming and removing trees, giving out keys to the clubhouse, water treatment upgrades, and new furniture for the clubhouse.
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