Updated on March 26: Denver City Council approved an extension of a moratorium halting development of all mobile home parks in the city. The extension will last until Dec. 31.
Nearly a year ago, residents at what was then called Capitol Heights Mobile Home Park were in talks with a nonprofit investor interested in helping them buy the park. Long-time residents planned to run it themselves as a cooperative, meaning residents will own and run the park themselves.
Then, the nonprofit investor pulled out.
When the park went up for sale last year, an outside buyer could have purchased the land and raised rents or redeveloped it, putting nearly 80 households at risk of displacement. Many residents of the park are low-income and some are undocumented immigrants; with rents rising across the city, finding comparable housing would be difficult for many of them.
But in September, residents announced they had raised enough money — $11.5 million — to put in an offer. In addition to grants and outside loans, part of that money involved a $2.6 million loan from the city of Denver. That loan got City Council approval Monday night.
If the park maintains certain housing affordability requirements and prioritizes low income residents, the loan would be forgiven.
“Like all things that were worth doing it was difficult, it took tenacity and it took faith,” said Council President Jamie Torres, who represents the mobile home park in Westwood. Torres has been working for years with other politicians and organizers to protect mobile home park residents from displacement.
The nonprofit Sharing Connexion will serve as interim owner as the park transitions to a cooperative.
“We seek to preserve and protect affordable housing from displacement and by acquiring and acting as interim owner, we are dedicated to maintaining this naturally occurring affordable housing for the residents while they work toward a cooperative ownership of the property,” said Sharing Connexion, Inc. CEO Ed Anderson in a statement Monday.
The move required a number of pieces of city legislation working in careful coordination to ensure existing parks didn’t get sold and cause displacement.
In 2023 the city rolled back laws preventing the replacement and renovation of mobile home units, meant to phase out parks in the city. According to advocates, those changes worsened living conditions and made investing in repairs difficult. Then, Council passed a moratorium on development, to prevent investors from swooping in once the city eased restrictions on existing parks.
That moratorium was supposed to expire this month. But on Tuesday afternoon City Council’s land use committee moved forward a bill that would extend that moratorium until Dec. 31. Torres said the move will give the city more time to figure out future zoning codes for mobile home parks.
Dre Chiriboga-Flor, who helped organize the Westwood park residents with the Justice for the People Legal Center, said the city loan is a positive sign for residents of Denver’s four remaining mobile home parks, which are at similar risk if owners decide to sell.
“We love to see more commitments like these… to ensure that when these parks go up for sale, there’s not mass displacement or a takeover of corporate ownership, which can be really predatory and destructive,” she said. “We’re really glad that the city’s taking the time to figure out solutions to protect and sustain these mobile home parks.”
