Minneapolis, MN—Friday, September 7th —As of today, residents of Stonegate Manufactured Housing Community in Lindstrom, Minnesota now own and control their 50-site manufactured home community (historically “mobile home park”).
“I’m really proud of us and our neighbors – that we were able to work together to accomplish what we did,” said Stephanie Bushard, Interim President of the Stonegate Cooperative. “We are excited about the future of our community.” Resident homeowners at Stonegate came together to organize a Minnesota cooperative corporation and have worked since February toward today’s purchase of their community from Pinewood Properties, Inc.
“This was a good outcome for me,” stated Steve Bodenschatz, Manager of Pinewood Properties.
“NCF, working with the Cooperative delivered on everything promised. When I am ready to sell another community, my first call will be to NCF.”
NCF, a ROC USA® Certified Technical Assistance Provider (CTAP), is a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis. NCF provided technical assistance and support throughout this process, with leadership of resident meetings, support of the Cooperative’s efforts to have due diligence performed on the property, and worked closely with all parties to help ensure a successful closing of this transaction.
NCF’s Executive Director Warren Kramer said, “We are extremely happy for the members of Stonegate Cooperative. As we learned from the first organizing meeting, many homeowners have lived here for decades. As is demonstrated by their strong leadership and inspiring initiative, Stonegate residents are committed to this community and have a very strong vision that they wish to realize and make happen here.”
The Board and the members took an active role on the resident conversion. Kevin Walker, Housing Development Director at NCF, said that “key leaders, especially Jim Borek, the Cooperative’s Interim Vice President, went above and beyond to help ensure that the resident purchase would be successful.” With this purchase, Stonegate’s homeowners will join another 1,000-plus resident-owned manufactured housing communities across the United States.
ROC USA was formed by leading non-profit organizations in the United States to make resident ownership possible nationwide. ROC USA Capital, the financing affiliate of ROC USA, carries a portfolio of pre-development and acquisition/permanent loans totaling over $50 million in ten states. Nationally, more than 140 communities have been converted to resident ownership with the assistance of ROC USA CTAP’s like NCF. Financing for Stonegate Cooperative was provided by ROC USA® Capital.
“Having readily available and cost-competitive capital that is tailored to the needs of resident corporations is a major key to facilitating a smooth sale for both our borrower and the community owner.” said Michael Sloss, Managing Director of ROC USA Capital.
Of the 50 households in the community, more than 70 percent are members in the cooperative and over time, the community will be 100% resident-owned. The Cooperative is owned and run on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of the residents. The Cooperative has engaged the services of several third-party vendors to help in the management of the property.
The Cooperative’s members are planning a community-wide celebration on Sept. 23, 2012.
Warren Kramer, Executive Director
Northcountry Cooperative Foundation
