Blogfinger

Tropicana Co-op.   Fort Myers, Florida. Paul Goldfinger photo December, 2021. Blogfinger.net. This article was originally  posted in 12/29/21, but lately, Jan 2023,  we have been receiving hundreds of hits, so this topic is in the spotlight.

Paul Goldfinger, MD     Editor Blogfinger.net     1/11/23.  Reporting from  Ocean Grove, NJ

Eileen and I live in Ocean Grove, NJ, but we are also homeowners in Tropicana Co-op.  Ft. Myers,  Florida.  We spend three months each winter here.

This cute house might be called a  “trailer. ” But many  prefer to call such structures   “manufactured homes.”    I call mine  my “immobile home.”  Most of the Tropicana Co-op homes date back to the 1970’s,  and many have experienced significant remodeling and improvements over the years.   The manufacturers of such units refuse to use the original term “trailer park.”

Tropicana is a gated “over 55” community  with  470 units, and the place is like a village with winding roads and palm trees.  It is a lovely community, and about 30% of the residents are year- round now.  That is a change, and there will also be forthcoming changes in demographics, the parameters of which remain to be seen. Tropicana is located in southwest Florida. It is very near the causeway to Sanibel Island and Captiva.

In 2021  the Tropicana Co-op  which had been owned by a group of the residents  (shareholders) was sold to a large corporation which bought the land, but not the houses.   It is now known as Tropicana Sands, although the nearest beach is 10 minutes away.

Note that none of these houses is on wheels. It is not an RV park.  Communities such as this  have amenities such as pools, clubhouses, shuffleboard courts,  management, programs, etc.  Tropicana’s new owners will be investing $4 million for improvements such as pickle-ball, a new entrance, infrastructure, and subsidies for painting exteriors, landscaping and new siding.

There is a crisis around the country in that many ordinary folks cannot find “affordable housing.”  That is currently true in Ocean Grove, N.J. (our northern home)  where young new-comers who want to live in the Grove are having trouble finding a small rental for under $1,200 per month.

In Florida there are many such “manufactured home” parks, and they have traditionally been viewed as being affordable, but now, as with  Tropicana, these accommodations have become too expensive for many, and those who can afford to be here may be unable to find available space. Demand is high.

The “manufactured home” owners are staying put and not moving up to condos, and the prices to purchase “immobile” homes are rising quickly. There is a “supply and demand” dynamic going on.

Recent home sales in Tropicana reveal a significant increase in prices for these houses.  If a house in Tropicana goes on the market, it is often sold within a day, and the prices for a home can be up to $100,000 and even considerably higher. Such inflated prices are occurring across the board in Florida and other desirable states.

Homeowners do not own the land, so they pay “ground rent,” and the rent includes property taxes for land which they do not own.  Such “pass through” taxes are legal, and if the values of the land and homes rise, the taxes and Lee County fees will also rise.

Parks which have been owned by residents, as in Tropicana, are now being snapped up across the country by big money companies such as the  Carlyle Group which bought Tropicana recently.   Carlyle is an  international firm and has about $120 billion.  Such companies have been active throughout Florida as well as Texas and California.

New owners, like others of their ilk, will be looking to raise rents and to institute new fees such as for garbage pickup.  Murex, our new managers, are tied to Carlyle, and although they are treading lightly now, they will be revealing a heavier footprint down the line. Hopefully their improvements will be a win-win for all.

Fortunately, for those who were homeowners when the ownership changed,  their rent increases are  limited to up to 3% per year.  But new home owners and renters now will be at the mercy of the park owners with respect to future increases.

Meanwhile, take a look at the house above—it is time to dispel the stereotypes about “trailer parks.” Our neighbors are lawyers, dentists, teachers, business owners, educated and retired people from around the country and Canada.  Oh, and occasionally you can find Jersey MD plates.

Our garbage will be picked up tomorrow, so the term “trailer trash” takes on new meaning in many ways.

2023 UPDATE: Tornadoes and a massive hurricane change everything in 2022.

Here is a link to our report about the Jan 22, 2022 tornado:

Tornado Jan 22, 2022.

Just as the Carlyle Group began to implement promised changes in 2021, a vicious tornado hit in the Iona vicinity of Ft. Myers  on January 22, 2022  causing damage and destruction to about 30 units in our  park.  Some were repairable, but some became a pile of debris requiring demolition.  Certain homeowners ordered new homes and they began to arrive a few months later on flat-bed trucks.  Others moved away.

We all got to see what a new unit could look like, and the result was surprising. (see below).   We went home for a medical issue when the tornado tore apart the park.  When we came back, the visuals and stories were upsetting.  (click on link above)

Those of us who were down last winter after the hit  had to contend with demolition noise, debris piles, and a depressing/ugly mess wherever the tornado struck.  My neighborhood was untouched as the tornado was very selective as it rampaged through our park and others in the vicinity.  “Trailer parks” are commonly destroyed by tornados.  Some residents became worried after that  and they sold their undamaged units at very good prices.  It looked like the Tropicana Sands would eventually get back on track with a number of new units scattered around providing a source of interesting conversation.

Then, on September 28,  2022, The city of Fort Myers took the brunt of the massive, horrible and destructive Hurricane Ian.  Ft. Myers Beach looked like an atom bomb had hit it, and almost every home in Tropicana was found to be “uninhabitable.”   We were not there during the storm, but Lee County  found that almost all the homes in Tropicana could not be saved, and most, including ours, had a big red X painted on it.

San Carlos Island near Tropicana Co=Op AP photo

Our house is condemned. Most damage was due to the flooding. Blogfinger photo.

Tropicana demolition in progress now. January 2023. By Helen Morgan-Rallis 1/11/23. She says, “Stopped by Tropicana yesterday. Most of the first section of Palm Drive has now been demolished  But in the midst of the destruction, 2 sunflowers bloomed … glimmers of hope & life amidst the desolation.”

Since then a process is evolving where no one can now occupy any place in the park.  Demolition has begun, and the owners hope to open a “new” Tropicana by next November.  Homeowners are busy dealing with their  homeowners insurance companies and adjustors, as well as with other sources of help, financial and otherwise, from FEMA, Small Business Authority,  Red Cross, County and Florida assistance,  contractors, (who currently are not allowed to work there) and others.

The process is terrible and frustrating.  That process could become a book, and it will.  We have not gone back.

Most  of the residents are gone, never to return to the future Tropicana or even to Florida. Many have taken rentals, but rentals in that area are hard to find. Some have bought in other parks or condo developments—prices are high.   We are weighing our options and wrestling with paper work  now, but we will spend this winter in New Jersey.

Some residents say the they will never return to flood vulnerable areas of Florida.  Others will be  ordering  hurricane and wind  resistant manufactured homes which are being designed, engineered and factory built to HUD standards to replace the original structures here.  The cost of a new home is quite  high depending on whether you choose a KIA, a Chevy or a Range Rover.  Murex thinks that owners will be able to move in by next November, but many observers are skeptical.

The days of inexpensive trailer parks with tireless vehicles sitting on cinder blocks are over, at least for those which are being built or restored now.  Those that still survive and cater to the poor are still available as “cheap” housing,   But corporations will be on the hunt to buy them and turn them into white collar winter retreats where the drinks will be champagne, fine coffee, oolong tea, French wine, and the cuisine will be lobster tails, food trucks,  grouper dinners, crab cakes, and Kobe beef burgers.

CAROLE KING