Residents of the Battle Ground Mobile Home Community, located behind the Wilco Farm Store, are facing uncertainty after receiving notice that the 55-and-older park has been listed for sale.
On June 25, Collective Communities management posted letters on each door of the nearly 180-household mobile home park that have left residents wondering what the future holds. Many residents own their homes but have to lease the land beneath them.
Liz Shaw, a passionate Battle Ground resident who has lived in the community for about three years, said rising space rent has already strained residents, even before the sale announcement arrived.
Shaw said when she and her boyfriend, Michael, were looking at the community for their place of residence, they were quoted with a $763 space rent.
“Then we found out that they raised it to $1,000 when the new management, I guess, switched over,” she said.
Since moving into the park, Shaw said annual increases have continued.
While management has added amenities including a renovated clubhouse, a pool table and community gathering spaces, Shaw questioned whether those improvements have justified the increased cost for many older residents on fixed incomes.
After financial uncertainty with rent increases, the overall uncertainty intensified when residents received notice informing them the property was being marketed for sale and that residents had the opportunity to bring a collective offer to the table.
“Now we get a letter. ‘Oh we’re selling and you guys have 70 days to think about if you guys want to co-op it and try to buy it,’” Shaw said. “Why would anybody our age want to go in and buy something like this. I mean, I don’t think 180 of us have maybe $10,000 between us.”
Plus, presenting an offer on the table as a co-op of residents only means it is a competing offer against possible new management or even land developers.
The sale comes at a time where the affordable housing option is threatened by development.
Clark County Council voted earlier this year to extend its moratorium on manufactured home park redevelopment for an additional full year. However, that only protects homes in unincorporated areas of Clark County.
During the Feb. 17 Clark County Council meeting, Hazel Dell Mobile Home Park resident Linda Mather spoke in favor of the actions by council to extend the moratorium. The moratorium was set in place to pause the development applications of mobile home parks while county staff draft regulations to preserve the affordable housing option.
“I have insurance against wind, water and fire destruction,” Mather told the county council in February. “But not against builders and developers who could bulldoze my home to repurpose the land under it.”
In October, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, met with residents of the Vista Del Rio mobile home park in east Vancouver to hear their concerns as their community had a sale price of $41 million and has been on the market since April 2024. Vista Del Rio, like the community in Battle Ground, serves the 55-and-older population.
The major concern is just one example of a nationwide issue: mobile home park land can be sold and used for other purposes, leading to the homes — many of them manufactured, rather than trailers on wheels — having to be moved or demolished.
“You can have your trailer. It’s yours. But not the land,” Shaw said, adding that if the community was purchased and it isn’t kept as-is, 180 mobile home owners would have to leave.
She questioned how and where residents of the Battle Ground Mobile Home Community would relocate if redevelopment occurs.
“You can get $11,000 for a single wide to move it. And $21,000 for a double wide to move it. To where?” Shaw asked. “Where are we going to move it? City hall?”
The uncertainty has also affected homeowners trying to sell.
“Our equity is this trailer unfortunately,” Shaw said. “And, if you notice, there’s like several trailers also up for sale. It now affects those individuals who are never going to get out of here. No one’s going to buy a trailer in a park that’s up for sale.”
For Shaw and her boyfriend, the unknown future has already prompted conversations about leaving the area altogether. Their only vehicle is a Dodge campervan, which Shaw said they have considered living in.
“My boyfriend wants to retire,” Shaw said, adding that his line of work is sparse in the Portland Metro area, prompting them to look north for a job.
Beyond her own household, Shaw worries most about her neighbors and what will happen if the property changes hands.
“No one is talking to us,” Shaw said. “No letters from the park. We just got that notice on our door. You have 180-plus people wondering what the hell is going to happen to them.”
Shaw said she hopes the broader community recognizes the human impact behind the sale.
“What’s going to happen to the residents?” Shaw asked. “180 senior citizens on fixed incomes. They only own their trailers and we have no options. Everything seems like it’s for the person who buys it. They get to decide our fate.”
As of press time, Collective Communities management did not respond to The Reflector’s question via email asking what the possible future of residents may be, as well as any statement on the proposed sale. In-park management directed The Reflector to the company’s management email.
