“This community was considerably distressed,” said Chris Barry, ACG chief operations officer. “We did tear down probably about 114 homes so far, so we really cleaned out the place of all the nasty homes.”
Riverside Mobile Home Park, which was originally approved in 1971 and called Avalon Mobile Home Park, “was unfortunately poorly managed and little investment was put into the property,” said Middletown Planning Director Marty Kohler.
By 2005, the park was in “extremely poor condition” with several abandoned homes, high crime and high vacancy. Many of the homes were also uninhabitable.
Butler County had filed for foreclosure for delinquent property tax in 2008. Two years later the mortgage company also filed for foreclosure and a receiver was appointed to manage the property that started removing or demolishing abandoned mobile homes.
Also in 2010, the city had targeted the mobile home park as its next cleanup project where it would raze more than 125 vacant units.
ACG, which has formed ACG Cincinnati LLC to operate the mobile home park it purchased in October, is proposing to eliminate 174 lots which would double the lots for the remaining 132, and created a playground area “for all the kids in the community who typically had nothing.”
Riverside is just under 60 acres and when it was developed decades ago, more than 300 mobile homes were jammed into the complex. Barry told City Council that eliminating 56.9 percent of the lots will result in lots being doubled.
“By doubling the size of the lots, it will increase the livability in the community as well,” said Barry. “It gives them a yard that their kids can put in a playground or a place to kick a soccer ball.”
There are also plans to erect a playground in the center of the complex that would have accommodated six mobile homes.
The mobile home park will also incorporate light industrial — which would take up about 20 percent of the development — but Barry said details of that are still being figured out. However, he said he believes there is potential to attract something that could complement the operations at Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field.
City Council seemed to support the proposal, though a vote won’t be taken until the Aug. 20 meeting. Mayor Larry Mulligan wanted to approve the plan with emergency legislation Tuesday night, Aug. 6.
Councilman Joe Mulligan said “he would rather wait” because the plan wasn’t contingent on an immediate approval.
Vice Mayor Dan Picard said it “is amazing what you’ve been able to do” and commends the company’s efforts.
“Thank you for investing as much as you have and improving a part of our city that desperately needed it,” he said.
Barry also said ACG, which buys distressed properties and revitalizes them, is not interested in flipping the mobile home park.
“Our intention is to own it,” he said.”We’re not park flippers.”
The company owns and operates about 18 other communities in the Southeast, Barry said.
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