Manufactured home community sells for nearly $70 million in Manatee

A manufactured home community in Manatee County near Palmetto has been sold to a Virginia-based real estate company for $69.9 million, according to property records.

Country Lakes Village and Country Lakes Village II were noted as part of the transaction. The 55-plus community consists of more than 470 lots near the 6100 block of Bayshore Road.

Country Lakes Co-op Inc. sold the property in late July to CS1031 Country Lakes Village MHC, DST.

That holding company uses the same Virginia mailing address as Capital Square, a Virginia-based "national real estate firm specializing in tax-advantaged real estate investments."

Capital Square did not provide additional details about the transaction when reached by a reporter.

The CS1031 Country Lakes Village entity also took out a $31.8 million loan.

The company, according to its website, owns several other Florida manufactured home communities, including Harbor View in Port Charlotte, The Coach House in Palmetto, Foxwood Village in Lakeland and Midway Estates in Vero Beach.

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"Since 2012, Capital Square has completed more than $6 billion in transaction volume. Capital Square's related entities provide a range of services, including due diligence, acquisition, loan sourcing, property/asset management, and disposition, for a growing number of high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, family offices and institutional investors," according to an unrelated company news release from July.

Capital Square has also begun developing apartment properties throughout the Southeast with about 2,000 apartment units in development with costs in excess of $600 million.

The name of the holding company indicates the transaction involved a 1031 exchange — a transaction that allows investors to take the proceeds from an investment sale and defer taxes by purchasing a similar asset.

Phil Ginexi, co-founder and managing director at Sarasota's The Multifamily Firm, said it's an interesting time for investors looking at Southwest Florida properties.

Interest rates have pushed the costs of borrowing money higher, but also made it harder for renters to afford a house. That increases the demand for apartments and other affordable housing options — like manufactured home communities.

Combined with a strong job market, rents have not decreased, despite some buyer interest decline.

"In many instances, the market fundamentals are better now than they were last year," he said. "But many buyers are in a wait-and-see approach."

He said that manufactured home communities could be viewed as attractive by some investors as it's stabilized cash flow with predictable income.

"It's probably a safe bet to acquire affordable housing options," he said. "There's a large number of people in Florida that need it."

In 2019, a large commercial investor purchased 10 mobile home parks in Bradenton for $40.6 million.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Manatee County manufactured home community sells for $70 million