Sam Zell’s Equity LifeStyle Properties scores loan for mobile home park near Lantana

Maralago Cay houses about 600 mobile home pads on a 102-acre lot

Maralago Cay (Inset: Sam Zell)
Maralago Cay (Inset: Sam Zell)

Sam Zell’s Equity LifeStyle Properties just scored a Fannie Mae loan for multiple mobile home communities it owns across the nation – two of which are in Florida.

Records show a subsidiary of the Chicago-based real estate investment trust Equity LifeStyle Properties received $66.5 million in financing for Maralago Cay, a mobile home park just west of Lantana. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC was the lender.

The loan for the 102-acre mobile home park at 6255 Lawrence Road is one chunk of a larger $204 million loan for a group of mobile home communities across the nation, records show.

Maralago Cay houses about 600 one-story mobile home pads. Equity LifeStyle Properties bought the property in 1997, records show, meaning the trade broke down to about $33,700 per lot.

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Equity Lifestyle Properties also scored $54.9 million in financing for its mobile home retirement community in Hernando County, Florida. The total value of all mortgaged properties related to the $204 loan is about $318 million, records show.

The REIT owns more than 145,000 lots in 32 states and British Columbia, according to its website. The company is known for snapping up distressed real estate and turning a profit.

Mobile home parks are becoming prime targets for investors and developers. Last month, real estate investor Steve Schneider paid $6.25 million for a trailer park near West Little River in Miami.

Last year, Sun Communities inked a $1.68 billion deal to acquire a large portfolio of mobile home communities, including 35 properties in Florida.