Development

Here’s who has been buying up mobile home parks in Charlotte

Pushed out

Mobile home parks have been a reliable source of affordable housing in Charlotte for decades, offering prices well below nearby apartments or homes. But a confluence of factors, including rising land prices and an influx of investors looking to make money buying parks, threaten this way of life. New reporting and data analysis from The Charlotte Observer shows how in the middle of the city’s widening affordable housing crisis, this remaining refuge has come under siege.

Mobile home parks in Charlotte and across the country are seen as a great investment for private equity and institutional landlords.

As revealed in The Charlotte Observer’s news series “Pushed Out,” at least 20 mobile home parks in Mecklenburg County have sold since 2017 — many to large-scale landlords who raise rents, threatening the stability of longtime residents.

This map shows which mobile home communities have changed hands in recent years.

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Lauren Lindstrom
The Charlotte Observer
704-358-5346
Lauren Lindstrom is a reporter for the Charlotte Observer covering affordable housing. She previously covered health for The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, where she wrote about the state’s opioid crisis and childhood lead poisoning. Lauren is a Wisconsin native, a Northwestern University graduate and a 2019 Report for America corps member. Support my work with a digital subscription
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