Mobile home REIT buys two Riverside County parks for $40M

Mobile home REIT Sun Communities has bought two complexes in Riverside County for $40 million.

Together, the two parks — one in Jurupa Valley and another in Banning, according to a quarterly financial report — have 379 sites and storage spaces.

In Jurupa Valley, Sun Communities bought the 4-acre Bel-Air Mobile Estates located at 6154 Mission Boulevard. Further east in Banning, the REIT purchased a 21-acre community at 2200 West Wilson Street. That 181-site mobile park complex is reserved for people over 55, and includes a swimming pool, game room and laundry facilities.

Both complexes were sold by an entity linked to Fred Fleming and Nancy Oren in Encino, according to public property records filed with Riverside County. An entity linked to the family has owned both properties since the 1970s.

Sun Communities, based in Michigan, only invests in manufactured home, mobile home and RV parks, as well as marinas. The REIT reported an increase in total revenues of 35 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, to $210 million, according to financial filings.

Most of that increase was attributed to demand for affordable vacations at RV parks, CEO Gary Shiffman said in a statement.

In California, the company has 38 properties, comprising more than 7,000 sites. These two Riverside County properties have been the only acquisitions the firm has made in the state over the last year. The majority of its portfolio is located in Florida, where it owns 129 properties.

In the second quarter, the REIT also bought a 255-lot mobile home park near Houston for $29.7 million. 

More institutional investors have jumped into the mobile home asset class in recent years. Last year, a Brookfield affiliate scored a $2.2 billion refinancing package on a portfolio of 124 mobile home and RV sites across the U.S.