Foxwood Village, a 244-unit manufactured home community in Calverton, has been sold for $16.8 million to Chicago-based Hometown America, one of the largest manufactured home community operators in the United States.
The 94-acre site, located on Middle Road, was sold Dec. 16 by the locally owned Foxwood Corporation, according to Suffolk County land records.
The 55-and-over community dates back to the 1980s.
Hometown America purchased the former Thurm’s Estates on Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton for $10.8 million in 2011, according to county records.
Another national manufactured home company, Kingsley Management, based in Provo, Utah, has purchased three communities in the Riverhead area, Riverwoods on Riverleigh Avenue, Riverhaven on Hubbard Avenue and Lakewood on River Road.
There’s been a lot of consolidation in the industry, said Brian Stark of Glenwood Village, a 560-unit manufactured home community in Riverhead — “the largest “mom and pop-owned community on Long Island if not in the state,” he said.
Stark said he takes great pride in the community he has expanded and improved over the past 25 or so years.
“If you are a resident in a privately owned community with local management you can be assured that your issues will be addressed in a more timely fashion,” Stark said.
Former Riverhead councilman John Dunleavy, a longtime resident of Foxwood Village, said today many residents in the community are concerned about whether maintenance and repairs will be handled as quickly as they were in the past. One of the principals in Foxwood lives in the community and was always accessible, Dunleavy said.
“As an owner, there’s an emotional attachment,” Stark said. “You get to know people. I know 80% of our residents by sight. It’s more than numbers on a spreadsheet in Chicago.”
Stark said he’s turned down offers from large companies. “I like to work,” he said.
“There are a lot of buyers who will buy this type of asset, because of our zip code,” Stark said. Eastern Suffolk is a desirable region and manufactured housing provides people with a comparatively affordable option, he explained.
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