When Gerald Suter moved into the cell home park just east of what was then a much smaller campus of Grand Canyon University 28 years ago, he planned to spend his days there.
Now 83, with limited mobility and income, he has to move, along with a hundred other people in the community.
That’s because the owner who bought the assets six years ago, GCU, needs to make way for a new development. GCU plans to convert the RV park into student housing as the personal Christian college continues to increase enrollment and its presence in West Phoenix. .
“They own the assets and they can do whatever they need with them, and I perceive that,” Suter said. to perceive that at all. “
He said he sought out GCU to leave them: “Morally, what they are doing is wrong. “
Periwinkle Mobile Home Park is at 27th Avenue and Colter Street in Phoenix, a few blocks east of the GCU campus and just south of 3 newly built school dormitories. It has about 50 trailers and a hundred residents, many of whom have lived there for years. . Some are retirees, others are families with parents who paint nearby and young people who go to school in the neighborhood. Some participated in GCU.
In late April, citizens obtained a letter from a law firm telling them that GCU needed them to move in until the end of October because it was “shifting the use” of assets from a cellular housing stock to apartment-style housing.
A university spokesman said GCU is willing to work with all tenants to fulfill their wishes and, in all likelihood, look for places to move. spokesman Bob Romantic wrote in an email.
“We realize that this kind of realization can be a check on the other people at Periwinkle and the university has taken steps to make the transition as smooth as possible,” Romantic wrote.
While the completion of the move didn’t entirely surprise citizens (the university bought the assets in 2016 and built everything), they are disappointed by what a small house and a short lead time is.
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According to the letter, citizens can get cash from the state’s cell home relocation fund to cover moving expenses, or they can leave their home on-site and get a refund, as decided by state law.
State law requires that cell homes built before 1976 be “rehabilitated” to meet needs before moving into the cell home park. Owners can receive a refund of up to $1,500 from the crown fund if they qualify based on their income.
But citizens said budget amounts to move or leave their homes weren’t enough to cover the high prices of moving their decades-old trailers or relocating to new homes due to rising rental prices.
“We need the right thing because we have to start over,” said Soraima Gopar, 45, who has lived in the park for thirteen years.
A handful of citizens said they sought out GCU to give them more cash to move or cancel their rent for a few months so they could save. Residents reported that they basically paid about $500 or less in rent; the average rent in the Valley is over $1,500.
Gopar needs the university to do more to get them moving.
“Or are we going to go? To the street?” She.
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The locals like to have nowhere to go.
Nearby cell home parks are already full, or they won’t allow their old trailers, they said. Apartment rents are at least double what they pay lately.
Moving too far would complicate business and school trips, especially with high fuel prices. Some citizens don’t have a car or savings to move into.
The April letter informed citizens of the state fund that it would pay them for moving expenses: up to $7,500 for a single-section cell home or up to $12,500 for a multi-section home. Or, they can leave their home in the assets and get $1,875 or $3,125, over the length of the house.
GCU’s Romantic said the public budget deserves to be enough to cover the costs of relocating cell homes, depending on the condition of the trailer, though citizens seem to disagree. assistance in furnishing new homes.
“GCU is also open to operating with tenants, based on the university’s most productive capacity, on an individual basis to care for them and meet their expressed cases or needs,” Romantic wrote.
There is no predetermined budget for this help. Some citizens may want monetary assistance, and others possibly not if the state budget covered their resettlement costs, but GCU may still have other tactics for them, Romantic wrote. He said GCU’s corporate asset control is smart in meeting individual needs.
Ray Bernier, 74, is resigned to the fact that he will most likely have to leave his 14-year-old home. He searched Glendale and elsewhere, but didn’t even find a study that can with his Social Security benefits alone.
He believes GCU will go ahead with building apartments there, so what you can do is get more budget to move in or avoid rent bills so you can use that cash to move in.
Local citizens are waiting for the assembly promised in the law firm’s letter to ask questions. GCU said the assembly will take a position in early June.
Gopar said his trailer, built in 1968, was probably too old to move in. But the $1,875 she and her husband would get leaving it behind wouldn’t be enough to cover the deposit and the first month’s rent at a new location. The cheapest trailer he discovered for sale cost $35,000, but it needed repairs. Others similar in length to yours are worth more than $70,000. He bought his thirteen years ago for $6,000.
She knew it could happen, but she didn’t expect to get so little time or so little money. Gopar works at a nearby doctor and worries about the costs of a longer trip.
Suter, the 28-year-old resident, doesn’t know what he’s going to do, but admitted he’s in better shape than many neighbors who have children and work. He is retired and there are only him and his cat. But he loves living there and needs everyone to be there to stay.
“We are not rich. If we were rich, we wouldn’t live in a cell home park,” he said. “Leave those other poor people alone.
He is recovering from an attack on the center and every few months he has to go to the VA hospital for examinations. He doesn’t have a car and can’t walk much, he takes the bus and his walker to the hospital and his electric tricycle for groceries buying groceries a few blocks from his house.
He bought his trailer from a friend for $10,000 and paid for it in installments. It has invested thousands of dollars more over the years, replacing the air conditioner, evaporative cooler, furnace and heating.
Suter’s idea that if GCU made citizens move, the university would pay for their houses and make sure they had a position to go. You have the impression that it will not be approved.
“I don’t know why they can’t leave us alone,” he said. “I think they were a Christian organization. “
In the Suter lot is Alondra Ruiz, whose son went to the GCU and lives in the park of the cell house for 8 years. Neighbors maintain friendly relations and take care of each other; Ruiz took Suter to the hospital when he had a center attack.
Ruiz, 48, was saddened to learn that she and her husband had to move. Or they paint for a football club for young refugees and have opened their caravan’s guest room to players over the years. Living near many children’s homes allowed Ruiz to invite them to soccer exercises, faint, and tutor. Leaving the region will be difficult.
GCU has purchased land near its campus in recent years to keep up with its growth. The school has particularly expanded its campus in recent years, the student population has multiplied, adding the construction of new apartment-style dormitories near the cell house park to satisfy asking.
The university had fewer than 1000 classical scholars in 2008; in the last school year, 23,500 academics were on campus. The continued expansion of scholars has required more housing on campus, as approximately 70% of scholars are on campus.
GCU is building two new dormitories for the upcoming school year near 29th Avenue and Camelback Road for its greater incoming elegance of approximately 10,000 students.
There is more student housing for the 2023-2024 school year, Romantic said. This will be built on top of the cell home park assets.
The university bought the for $3. 4 million in 2016 in anticipation of the campus’ eastward progression. The cell home park is bounded by the main campus to the west and the more recently developed GCU hotel and other buildings to the east along Interstate 17.
The Periwinkle site is the only one GCU owns lately that is large enough for long-lasting bedrooms, as other GCU-owned homes require setbacks or modifications to new construction, according to Romantic.
The university has revitalized the dominance around its campus on I-17 and Camelback Road, contributing particularly to the local economy. GCU cites its Christian project in its efforts to help the surrounding domain through community safety, strengthening house values, helping families, and creating local jobs.
Many of those projects have brought about positive renovation in the neighborhood. The result this time could be the loss of a community.
Do you have a story about higher education? Contact the journalist at Alison. Steinbach@arizonarepublic. com or 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter @alsteinbach.
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