A mobile-home park that began as a citrus grove in the 1920s has been sold to developers who plan to create a multifamily community with replanted citrus trees reminiscent of its beginnings.
Rancho Los Amigos mobile-home park, 600 W. Orange Grove Road, was bought by Alta Vista Communities for $4.8 million, records from the Pima County Recorderโs Office show.
Owners plan to begin construction of a 232-unit rental community with two-story, eight-plex buildings ranging from one to three bedrooms by yearโs end.
โEvery one will be a corner unit,โ said Roger Karber, manager of Alta Vista Communities.
The units will have 10-foot ceilings and oversized patios and balconies, he said.
For now, the company has contracted with a management firm to help transition residents to different mobile-home parks.
About 70 residents of the park have been notified that they need to vacate by Aug. 1, said manager Neal Haney, of NTH Property Management.
He said one meeting has been held to explain the next steps, and a second meeting is scheduled for later this month to bring in other park operators to discuss their amenities.
Fund will pay to move
or buy mobile homes
Under state law, owners of mobile-home parks are required to give 180-day notice when a park is sold to be redeveloped, said Debra Blake, interim director of the Arizona Department of Fire Building and Life Safety.
She said the state will pay to relocate the mobile homes to other parks, to private property or to purchase them.
A fund established in the 1970s is financed by a personal property tax assessment that mobile-home owners pay in case of a parkโs redevelopment.
The fund pays up to $5,000 for the movement and installation of a single-wide and $10,000 for a double-wide, Blake said.
Only tenants with proof of ownership of the mobile home are eligible for assistance. People renting the mobile homes are not.
Blake said homeowners run into problems when they get installers that exceed those limits, which are set by state law.
โWhat we tell tenants is, negotiate it,โ she said. โYou are the one in control here and there are installers that will do it for $5,000.โ
That reimbursement covers only the cost of moving the mobile home, not additional structures that may have been added or items such as aboveground pools or sheds. โThose are all a la carte,โ Blake said.
Both the Arizona Association of Manufactured Home Owners and Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona receive notice from the state when a park is about to close and they work with the property managers to set up informational meetings for residents.
Residents can also chose to abandon the property. โIf they want to do something different, they can give up the title, sign the home over to the new park owners and walk away,โ Blake said. A payment of $1,250 would be made for a single-wide and $2,500 for a double-wide.
โEverybody understands this is a stressful time,โ she said. โThe state is here, not only with money, but to answer your questions. We want to make this as smooth a transition as possible.โ Residents can call 602-364-1032 for more information or for a list of licensed installers in their area.
While working on this article, a reporter and photographer were asked to leave the property, as some residents requested privacy during their transition.
part of local lore
The long driveway onto the property, just west of Oracle Road, will be kept in place, as will much of the lush vegetation, Karber said.
โDefinitely want to keep those amazing palm trees, maybe have them lining that long entry drive,โ he said. โWe want to keep that country/rural feel.โ
If all goes as planned, units will be available for move-in by late spring or summer 2017.
Karber said it has not been decided what to name the new complex.
โI like the name and the history,โ he said. โAnd, we want to put some of the citrus back and replicate the grove atmosphere.โ
Records show that Maurice Reid bought a 1,500-acre ranch bounded by what is now Oracle and La Cholla roads and Orange Grove and Ina Roads to create a citrus farm.
He moved his wife, Beulah, and sons Gene and Robert from Oakland, California, in 1924, after a yearโs stay at a sanitarium in Tucson after he contracted tuberculosis.
Reid cultivated more than 200 acres of citrus trees and date palms. Over the years, most of the land was developed or sold as parcels for homes, and in 1950, the remaining property was sold to a group of doctors who developed it into a trailer court in 1955.
The 18-acre Rancho Los Amigos is part of the original farm.
Arizona Daily Star columnist Bonnie Henry has noted that Gene Reid โtook his green thumb to town, where he became city parks and recreation directorโ and namesake of Reid Park.
