Mainers have banded together to buy their mobile home park.
The deal between Blueberry Fields Cooperative and Linnhaven Mobile Home Park in Brunswick was closed Thursday, according to Massachusetts-based Cooperative Development Institute.
Supporters tout it as the “first deal of its kind” in Maine since a new law went into effect last year and comes as more out-of-state investors look to scoop up communities of its kind.
The residents bought the 278-home community for $26.3 million. Together they raised more than $27 million for the sale, the remainder of which will go toward septic and water infrastructure upgrades, the Cooperative Development Institute said Friday morning.
Linnhaven’s residents decided to make a bid to purchase their community after learning the park’s longtime owner wanted to sell. Some feared that the new owner would evict residents.
The new state law requires that mobile home park owners give residents notice of any sale so that they have a chance to try to buy the property themselves.
There are more than 700 manufactured and mobile home parks in Maine, 10 of which are owned by their residents.