Mobile home park property in Bradenton Beach being sold, residents concerned they could lose their home

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - It’s a piece of prime real estate that sits near the Gulf of Mexico in Bradenton Beach and across the street from the Historic Bridge Street Pier.

Homeowners at the Pines Trailer Park find themselves in a difficult situation. The owner is selling the property, giving them first dibs for a $16 million selling price. That would equate to more than $180,000 for each of the 87 homeowners.

“We’re all shocked because for some people this is their home, this is the only place they have to live and it’s going to be expensive for them to find something else,” said Linda Maerker, president of the tenants association for the Pines Trailer Park. “And for those of us who are here for six months out of the year, it’s our holy ground, it’s our paradise.”

The homeowners do lease the land their homes sit on. There’s fear if they don’t buy it, a developer will come in and tear everything down and build something else on the property.

Many residents have mixed feelings about how this should be handled. Some residents ABC7 talked with are optimistic everything will work out and their homes will be saved.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to actually save something that is a very retro park and it’s part of history,” said resident Donna Brandenburg. “So this is a very significant effort to save something that should be truly an historic district, to save the flavor of the island.”

The HOA has held several meetings on this, and indications show they are in support of a buyout. The deadline is now under two weeks for the HOA to make an offer. That could happen as early as this Monday night.

“There are those of us we can afford the whatever amount, but there are people who can’t do that,” said Maerker. “And we don’t want to because that’ll change our lifestyle.”