One of Charlottesville’s last trailer parks could sell, displacing all of its residents

Covering 6 acres in the city’s Belmont neighborhood, Carlton Mobile Home Park is home to 66 trailers that offer residents some of the lowest housing prices in a city struggling with a housing affordability crisis.

On May 21, the owners of the property sent a letter to its residents alerting them of two things: the owners had accepted an offer to sell the property for $7 million and residents were entitled to make an offer of their own.

“I laughed,” recalled Nancy Sprouse, a resident who has lived at the park for 12 years. “Seven million dollars? Who’s going to come up with that counteroffer?”

But that laughter quickly subsided, and anxiety and fear set in. If the park is sold, Sprouse and her neighbors face a deeply uncertain future.

The name of the prospective buyer is not publicly available, and representation for the current owners, listed as a William Bolton in paperwork, declined to answer questions from The Daily Progress about the potential sale and what will happen to those currently living on the site.

That’s left many to speculate that the park will be torn down and redeveloped, forcing current residents out of trailers that they rent for less than $400 a month, some of the most affordable rates in a city where the average apartment rents for $1,618, according to data compiled by apartment listing website apartments.com.

The assessed value of the land parcel is $2.2 million. Considering the prospective buyer has offered $7 million, Charlottesville City Council Member Michael Payne suspects the residents are at significant risk of being forced out.

“There’s literally, I think, zero chance the plan wouldn’t be to redevelop it and move the residents,” Payne told The Daily Progress. “Particularly for $7 million. The only way that’s going to be profitable for that private developer will be to redevelop the site, which will inevitably lead to displacement of those residents. A lot of those people have been there for decades.”

Last week, while standing outside of their trailer which they refer to as the “Sprouse House,” Sprouse and her husband Jimmy were met by a group of volunteers who hope to save the park.

Representatives from the Charlottesville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and other organizations were collecting signatures on a petition. If 25% of tenants sign, and if enough funds can be gathered to make a competitive counteroffer, Virginia law requires the current owner must consider it.

Nonprofit homebuilder Habitat for Humanity and the city of Charlottesville are hoping to join forces to make such an offer. Habitat for Humanity has two similar, and successful, projects in the area, including Sunrise Park next door to Carlton Mobile Home Park and Southwood just south of city in Albemarle County. But much will have to fall in place, and time is running out. The deadline for the offer is Aug. 6.

“Given the uncertain future of the residents of the park, we believe we have an ethical obligation to investigate all options,” Angela Guzman, a spokeswoman for Habitat for Humanity, told The Daily Progress in a statement. “We continue to engage in exploratory conversations with numerous community partners, including the residents themselves. If/as we determine there is enough community interest and that our partnership would make sense, we’ll continue to press forward with identifying solutions in hopes of meeting the deadline.”

That partner may be the city itself.

At a closed meeting Monday night, City Council gave government staff the green light to begin putting things in order so that such a deal could be possible. That wouldn’t mean the city would be on the hook for the $7 million on its own, but it could attempt to secure a bridge loan that would enable the city and Habitat to make a competitive offer.

“We discussed what City Council would need to do, and unanimous direction was given to city staff to pursue what’s needed on the city government end to help facilitate a counteroffer,” said Payne. “If a counteroffer is to be made, it would need capital not just coming from the city. We would need additional funding to come from the state and other sources.”

Before the city could actually make a counteroffer, it would need to be approved in a City Council vote. But there’s no guarantee it will get to that point, as city staff and community partners are scrambling to get everything in order by the fast approaching deadline.

And while much is uncertain, multiple residents in the park told The Daily Progress they’re hoping a counteroffer can be made.

If it isn’t, those that rent their trailers will have to find affordable housing elsewhere, and many expect it would have to be found outside the city.

Those that own their trailers, a multithousand-dollar investment, have limited options. Many of the trailers are embedded into the ground and could break into pieces if they are moved. Moving a trailer can cost $7,000, and owners are on the hook if the trailer breaks while in transit.

There are only two mobile home parks in Charlottesville, so the trailer owners may have to move out of the city entirely to find a new place to settle down.

How worried are residents?

“On a scale of one to 10? 10,” said one young resident who is currently a college student and has lived at the park since elementary school.

The student, who asked not to have their name used, said that even though there is crime in the surrounding area, people in the park look out for one another. Last month, there were five shootings in less than a week in the Belmont area, one of which occurred less than a third of a mile down the street from the trailer park and left a woman seriously injured.

Rent is so affordable at the Carlton Mobile Home Park that the student doesn’t know where her family would go next.

“There’s no cheap housing here,” the student said. “No one really knows if it will remain a trailer park or if it will be developed, but everything has been developed. So it will 100% be developed in the end. You can already tell.”

Down the street, Jennifer Brown and her husband are unsure of what they’ll do if the park is sold.

“I live paycheck to paycheck. I have three kids. So what are my options? Trying for a loan for a home and getting denied, it sucks,” said Brown. “Trailers are the cheapest to live in, but not only that, I know families that have been out here for 15-plus years.”

Every resident who spoke with The Daily Progress and the volunteers who walked the park said they hope a counteroffer can be made.

The Sprouses have been told by the pastor of their church that it is not yet time to worry.

“We’re supposed to leave the worrying to God. That’s hard sometimes. But we can be anxious,” Sprouse said. “If we can get Habitat for Humanity to make a counteroffer it would be a blessing to all of us.”