Seniors try to sell dream of affordable housing

J. Craig Anderson

Friday, Oct. 28, 2005 | 7:38 a.m.

Gerald Ernst and Leroy Anderson have a plan that they say would help alleviate Clark County's affordable housing crisis.

The two residents of Tropicana Palms mobile home park, 6420 E. Tropicana Ave., would like to use federal land set aside for low-priced homes as a haven for seniors living on fixed incomes.

Ernst, 72, said the only truly affordable homes left in Southern Nevada are mobile homes, and many of the communities that allow such homes have sold out to developers and sent residents packing.

In all, 13 local mobile home parks have been slated for closure during the past year, creating turmoil for tenants -- who usually own their homes, but not the land.

Although the assembly-line houses are said to be "mobile," many of the newer models more closely resemble site-built homes and are expensive and difficult to move, Ernst said.

Among those hit hardest by the ongoing closures are elderly residents, many of whom can't afford the cost of starting over.

"There's got to be a better place for seniors where they can be secure," Ernst said.

That "better place" might be Senior Village, a proposed mobile home community that would offer low-priced housing on relatively inexpensive land and could include amenities such as hobby shops, exercise facilities and on-site health care.

The community would include rows of manufactured houses connected by stucco to resemble town homes, Ernst said.

The main difference between Senior Village and other retirement communities is that it would be operated by a nonprofit organization whose only goal would be to preserve a desirable lifestyle and price range for its residents.

Ernst and Anderson recently formed a 501(c) nonprofit entity called Village Seniors Ltd. that can apply for grants and raise funds to move the plan forward.

"If we can get the right help, we can make a dream park," the 76-year-old Anderson said. "We aren't asking for a handout. We think we can contribute -- we can be a tax base."

The community would work with leading home manufacturers to get the best deal possible. Ernst said he believes prices could run as low as $37,000 for a 1,000-square-foot home.

If the model is successful, it could be duplicated on a larger scale and modified to create affordable manufactured home parks for residents of all ages, Ernst said. Because of laws protecting federal land designated for affordable housing, the parks could not be sold or redeveloped for 40 years.

He said both the Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land, and the Housing and Urban Development Department, which would have to loan money to build the community, have expressed interest in the idea.

However, without the support of local officials, Senior Village will remain a dream, Ernst said.

Bob Varallo, president of the Nevada Association of Manufactured Homeowners, said he isn't sure whether Ernst and Anderson's plan would work, but he has spoken recently with others in the industry who are promoting innovative ways to build and maintain affordable parks.

One method pioneered on the East Coast is the use of community cooperatives in which residents each own a share of the land. Any decisions to buy or sell land require popular consent.

Varallo said there are still plenty of vacancies at Clark County's 133 existing mobile home parks, and most are not under immediate threat of closure.

Still, no new communities have opened in the county since 1999, and he doubts there will be any more -- at least not the for-profit kind.

In addition to skyrocketing land values making mobile home parks less profitable, Varallo said, they don't satisfy Las Vegas and county officials' growing penchant for high rises, glitz and glamour.

"I don't care what they say to you," he said. "They do not want any more of these communities here."

Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid disagreed, saying affordable housing is the No. 1 priority to arise from a recent Community Growth Task Force study.

Without reasonably priced homes, the "three-legged stool" of good wages, a dynamic economy and affordable housing that has attracted so many new residents could topple over, Reid said.

"One of the legs of that stool is wobbly at best," he said.

County officials are putting together their own plans involving BLM land, Reid said, but he isn't sure if they will work.

One problem is that the land still isn't cheap, but it is difficult to argue for lower prices until county officials can prove they have made every effort to develop a viable plan under existing conditions, he said.

At any rate, he plans to meet Monday with Ernst and Anderson to hear them out, Reid said.

"I welcome whatever creativity that can be brought to bear on this," he said.

The meeting with Reid will be a step in the right direction, but Ernst said it will take drive and patience to make their dream community a reality.

"We don't have a lot of money, but we've got the ambition and we've got the time," he said.

"A lot of time," Anderson said.

J. Craig Anderson can be reached at 259-2320 or craig@lasvegassun.com.