COMMUNITY VOICES | How resident ownership revived a manufactured-home community
“This has been the most influential role that I have played in my life besides being a mother and grandmother. The joy that people have in living here is amazing,” says the operational manager at Zumbro Ridge Estates in Rochester, Minn.
Allie Lechner wants people to know there’s a big difference between a landlord-owned mobile home community and a resident-owned mobile home community.
In this second interview focused on leadership in resident-owned communities, we spoke with Lechner, operational manager at Zumbro Ridge Estates in Rochester, Minn. Lechner details some management lessons learned through the years, the value of cooperative ownership, and a few things she wished others understood about manufactured home parks.
What do you like about your role at the park?
Lechner: I have had many roles here at Zumbro Ridge Estates. Back in June of 2018 when I became a board member and took on the refill of the community along with raising funds for the playground, it was very exciting and scary at the same time. I could envision what Zumbro Ridge Estates could be, but there were no dollars on hand to help with the needed transformation and 30-plus years of deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs. The 64 home owners had been told many times before that things would get better and change, and they never did.
Going to the residents and asking them to believe in me as their representative in media, grant writing, and public speaking on who and what Zumbro Ridge Estates was to become was challenging. But once they saw the diagram of the playground that I promised and the first new home came onto the property it was GAME ON, and then residents started to pitch in and join me in cleaning up the community.
Fast forward to today. I am not a board member but a paid operational manager of a completely filled community that has a state-of-the-art playground, a basketball court, day camp for the kids, monthly clean-ups, monthly newsletters, a free onsite food pantry, free help in the summer for residents that need things done on their homes, a connection to the city sewer, new water lines where they are needed, garden beds, new roads, a $500,000 Department of Natural Resources grant for much needed tree work, after school programs for the kids, and much more.
This has been the most influential role that I have played in my life besides being a mother and grandmother. The joy that people have in living here is amazing.
What is hard about your role?
Lechner: In the beginning the hard part was knowing exactly where to start. Then there were the doubters that said I could never even get one new home into Zumbro Ridge Estates nor could I raise funds to get the kids the promised playground. Today the hard part is not having any homes for those that want to live here at Zumbro Ridge Estates. It is hard telling a family that wants to live here that we have nothing available.
Scenes from around Zumbro Ridge Estates, a resident-owned community in Rochester, Minn., including a new playground, new trees, and a food pantry. (Courtesy of Allie Lechner)
Any words of advice you would give a new board president or manager?
Lechner: Treat everyone the same. Your friends cannot have special treatment, the rules apply to all equally. If you have real trouble makers in the community that will not follow rules or conform to the communities’ standards, the sooner you let them move on out of the community the better.
At times you will feel overwhelmed and want to give up; that is when you need to reach out to those of us who have made it to the other side. My favorite one-liner to myself when in the thick of what seemed like an insurmountable crisis was, “This too shall pass.” Sometimes when things seem overwhelming it is nice to just leave the community and go for a car ride with the music blasting. Do not lose track of taking care of yourself.
Do the residents know and appreciate they are in a cooperative?
Lechner: Yes. They have seen the lot rents rise significantly at other mobile home communities and their appearance and upkeep deteriorate. When Zumbro Ridge Estates became a cooperative, we were one of the worst communities in Olmsted County. Now, according to the appraiser for Data Comp, we are ranked the best mobile home community in Olmsted County.
How does being in a cooperative make a difference?
Lechner: Once everyone understood that they were part owners of the entire community, they started to pitch in and help keep the community free of litter. And as the years go by, more and more residents volunteer to help out with all kinds of things. Residents now help newcomers to understand the importance of the by-laws and the rules of our community.
Residents take pride in their homes and lots and often verbalize their appreciation that our community has become what it is today.
Being a 501(c)(3) has made all the difference in the world. We have been able to apply for millions of dollars in infrastructure grants and take care of the 30-plus years of deferred maintenance and needed upgrades within the community.
What do you wish the general public knew?
Lechner: There is a huge difference between a landlord-owned mobile home community and a resident-owned mobile home community.
A landlord-owned community often has many years of deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs which can lead to junky looking communities which eventually leads to questionable safety for the residents. The landlord-owned community is a community where the landlord is raising rents to line their own pockets.
A resident-owned community is a community where the residents take great pride in where they live, and they are willing to put hard work in to make sure their community stays a clean, safe, and desirable place to live. A resident-owned community is a community that only raises rents to meet the needed bills to operate the community, not to line anyone's pockets.
For more information about resident owned communities in Minnesota, visit conorth.coop.
This column was edited for length and clarity by Nora Hertel.
Joel Haskard