Community
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME COMMUNITIES CONTINUE TO RISE By Don Westphal
D
Due to the number of vacant sites in existing com-
munities, nominal activity has transpired in new community planning over the last few years.
Memphis Blues Manufactured Home Community and Rental Homes Memphis Blues is a unique, all-ages community
However, as existing communities fill up, the de-
where residents rent the home and homesite. Redevel-
mand for new ones is experiencing a renaissance. The
oped in recent years, the community is a fascinating
proposed communities consist of expanding existing
story. Many years ago, a flood destroyed the previous
communities, developing new communities near
mobile home community there. The reconfiguration
older communities, and acquiring site plan approval
process on the current site has been documented in
for greenfield projects.
many articles since. The expansion illustrated below
It's interesting to note that some of the project
is in the approval stages and occupies the area that
locations have not had any new communities
provided the fill needed to raise the existing com-
in decades!
munity above the 100-year flood level. We anticipate
What's more, these new communities all occur in
this approval will be much easier than the previous
areas with a significant lack of attainable housing for
reconfiguration since the owners, UMH Properties,
working families and retiring seniors.
have done a great job in Memphis.
At the Nadi Group, while we have over a dozen projects across the country that illustrate
Growth in Idaho
different ways to respond to new community
The Donnelly Idaho project in planning will be
planning, the three projects highlighted below are
an all-age community with a mixture of single- and
unique in their process:
multi-section homes. The project needs single-section homes capable of having a garage attached to
Michigan Resort Town Property Alta Vista, a 55+ project near Traverse City, Mich., is a new community close to the award-winning
achieve a lower price point and a higher density with thinner lots. It also requires narrower sites to attain a minimum of 200 home sites there.
Wood Creek project featured in a previous edition of
The ability to plow and store snow in the winter
MHInsider. Even though acquiring approval for Wood
months played a significant part in the design of the
Creek was a challenging exercise in zoning and site
community. We used cluster streets meeting National
plan approval for a sophisticated resort area, the local
Prevention Association Code standards instead of the
approval process for Alta Vista was quite a bit easier.
conventional cul-de-sac design. MHV
Homes in Alta Vista will be multi-sectional with
Donald C. Westphal has been honored
attached garages. Unfortunately, wetlands and oth-
with seven MHI Community of the Year
er environmental issues have made acquiring the
Awards, has a 50-year history of planning
construction permit by the State of Michigan more
exceptional manufactured home commu-
difficult. Still, we expect the state to issue one soon.
nities, and still enthusiastically serves the industry through his contributions to MHInsider and his work with The Nadi Group.
50 | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022 EDITION
