Real estate investors wheel and deal to buy South Bay mobile home parks

SAN JOSE — Three South Bay mobile home parks have new owners after a series of real estate deals involving residential complexes with a combined hundreds of spaces.

The mobile home sites involved in the transactions were Mobilodge of Milpitas at 1515 North Milpitas Blvd. in Milpitas; Old Orchard Mobile Park at 2135 Little Orchard St. in San Jose; and Mayfair Trailer Park at 1840 South Seventh St. in San Jose, documents on file with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.

The mobile home complexes involved in the deals were bought for a combined $23.2 million, according to the county real estate files. The purchases were all accomplished during May.

Mobile home parks occupy a key niche in a Bay Area housing ecosystem sometimes associated with sky-high home prices.

Here are some of the details of the recent flurry of deals, according to the deeds on file at the Recorder’s Office.

Mobilodge of Milpitas, a 145-space complex, was bought for $9.1 million by a group headed up by Peter Wang, a Mountain View-based individual whose LinkedIn page describes him as a real estate specialist. The park was bought at roughly $62,800 a space.

Old Orchard Mobile Park, a 102-space property, was bought for $8.2 million, also by a Wang-led affiliate. The price worked out to $80,400 a space.

Mayfair Trailer Park, a 54-space complex, was bought for $5.9 million by a Sacramento-based affiliate headed up by John McDougall. McDougall is based at the same Sacramento address as Monte Christo Communities, a mobile-home company, state business documents show. McDougall is chief executive officer of Monte Christo Communities. The price worked out to $109,300 a space. The park is across the street from the bustling The Plant shopping and dining hub.

By happenstance, Peter Wang was the seller in this deal, state business and county real estate documents show.

In recent years, both local and out-of-state investors have bought mobile home parks in the South Bay. The buyers were seeking to own the properties as attractive investments.

At least one deal was accomplished for the purpose of a redevelopment. In 2021, Pulte Homes paid $50 million in cash for Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Park in San Jose. Several hundred homes and apartments replaced the mobile homes.