MONEY

Zeman Homes plans to upgrade Caribbean Park in North Naples

June Fletcher
june.fletcher@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4775
Housing units can be seen at Caribbean Homes, a 55-plus retirement community off Old U.S. 41. It was recently purchased by Zeman Homes, a Chicago-based realty group, causing concern for some of the park's residents. Zeman says its business model is to operate mobile home parks for the long haul. It has plans to spend $500,000 for amenities in the community while selling new units for $80,000 to $100,000, helping to ease the affordable housing crisis in Collier County.

A large Midwestern operator plans to give a pricey makeover to Caribbean Park, an aging manufactured-home community in North Naples.

Chicago-based Zeman Homes plans to spend more than $500,000 to spruce up and add more amenities and housing units to the 46-year-old age-restricted community on Sunrise Boulevard just east of U.S. 41.

It bought the 52-acre community last month for $27 million from RPF Family.

“We think the market for affordable housing in Naples is underserved,” said Jeff Fannon, chief executive of Zeman, which owns and operates over 10,000 sites in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Caribbean Homes, a 55-plus retirement community off Old U.S. 41, was recently purchased by Zeman Homes, a Chicago-based realty group, causing concern for some of the park's residents. Zeman says its business model is to operate mobile home parks for the long haul. It has plans to spend $500,000 for amenities in the community while selling new units for $80,000 to $100,000, helping to ease the affordable housing crisis in Collier County.

Zeman plans to gut and renovate the clubhouse, expand the pool and upgrade bocce and shuffleboard courts.

But plans haven’t been finished yet. Fannon wants to wait until the fall, when part-time residents return to Florida, to get residents' input on proposed changes.

Homes at Caribbean Park up for resale range from $7,300 for an older two-bedroom, one-bath singlewide to $74,900 for a newer two-bedroom, two-bath doublewide.

Zeman plans to add at least 18 new units, ranging from $80,000 to $100,000, on the 50 vacant sites in the community, which has 359 sites.

The new units will be made by Palm Harbor Homes and Skyline. Both manufacturers offer choices in exterior and interior designs as well as some customizable features such as upgraded kitchen appliances.

The newer units will stand up better to hurricanes than those built before the early 1990s, Fannon said, when building standards were strengthened for factory-built homes.

Larry Peake, right, a resident of Caribbean Park for three years, swims at the community swimming pool with his granddaughter Olyvia Lebasseur on Tuesda in Naples. The park was recently purchased by Zeman Homes, a Chicago-based realty group, causing concern for some of the residents of the park. "None of it is bothering me," Peake said. "Nothing has really changed."

Caribbean Park homeowners will have to pay a ground rent to Zeman of $560 to $590 a month, which includes lawn maintenance, trash, water and sewer. Cable isn’t included, but there will be Wi-Fi in the clubhouse.

Fannon acknowledged that when Zeman buys a property such as Caribbean Park, “the main concern a lot of people have is that there will be a change of use.”

However, Fannon said Zeman — a company that has been in business since 1983 — typically keeps its properties for decades and that residents generally live there for seven to 10 years.

“We don’t think there’s a better use of land, if you screen people and do it right,” he said.

Although some people stigmatize manufactured-home communities, most of Zeman's customers are blue-collar retirees who have the money to buy site-built single-family homes but like factory-built homes and the close-knit lifestyle of the parks, Fannon said.

Caribbean Homes, a 55-plus retirement community off Old U.S. 41, was recently purchased by Zeman Homes, a Chicago-based realty group, causing concern for some of the park's residents. Zeman says its business model is to operate mobile home parks for the long haul. It has plans to spend $500,000 for amenities in the community while selling new units for $80,000 to $100,000, helping to ease the affordable housing crisis in Collier County.

He said that although the company is in a market niche, it has been expanding into Florida as part of its long-term strategy of growing beyond the Midwest and into Sunbelt states, where factory-built homes  long have been prevalent.

There are 32 manufactured-home communities in the Naples area and 67 in the Fort Myers area, according to MHVillage.com, a resale marketplace website.

Late last month Zeman bought a 43-acre parcel between Naples and Marco Island to build a new manufactured-housing community.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the land already has been approved for the creation of 273 homes, with groundbreaking expected within two years.

The lots will accommodate homes in the 1,500- to 1,800-square-foot range, with full garages, at an average target price of $120,000.

Some units will be rented out, too, to give potential buyers a chance to try manufactured-home living before committing to the lifestyle.

Factory-built homes have come a long way since the mid-1970s, Fannon said, when they often were described as trailers or mobile homes.

“A lot of people think metal on metal, with a tire on the roof,” he said. “These are much nicer.”