A sprawling mobile home park in Malibu that was owned by the seaside city’s founding family has been sold to one of the nation’s largest owners of manufactured housing communities.
Point Dume Club of Malibu, which has 297 residences, will continue to operate and not be redeveloped into the kind of tony estates commonly found in Malibu, the new owners said.
The 95.4-acre site on the Point Dume promontory is the largest privately owned oceanfront parcel in Malibu, said real estate broker Dustin B. Wilmer of Marcus & Millichap, who represented the seller in the recent transaction.
“On the market for the first time since the underlying land was purchased in 1892, Point Dume Club of Malibu has sold for the highest price per site ever achieved by a manufactured housing community,” Wilmer said.
The sale price was not disclosed, but a person familiar with the terms of the deal who was not authorized to talk about it publicly put the sale at nearly $200 million, far below the price the land would command if it could be put to other uses.
The new owner is Chicago-based Hometown America Communities, which operates nearly 80 mobile home communities in 12 states, according to the company’s website.
“We’re excited to add Pointe Dume to our family of communities in California,” the company said in a statement. “Pointe Dume is a beautiful property, and we intend to manage it in the same manner as the prior owners, honor current leases, and comply with all local regulations. Hometown is a long-term investor, and we value the long-range viability of the market and our communities.”
Point Dume Club of Malibu is one of two mobile home communities in Malibu. In the last two years, homes there have sold for an average of $2.1 million and as much as $5.6 million, Wilmer said. Such prices buy only the mobile home itself as owners lease their plots of land from the property owner.
Point Dume Club was built in 1969 by members of the Rindge family, which had owned the land since late 1880s. Its coastal boundary lines are about 50 feet from the beach.
Amenities in the gated community include a basketball court, car wash, clubhouse, library, kitchen, stage, card room, laundry facilities, playground, heated swimming pool, sauna and a tennis court.