PHOENIX — The plan was years in the making but neighbors living in the Peri Winkle Mobile Home Park are struggling to find a new place to live.
“I like it here a lot," said Juan Pedrito. "This is my home."
Juan Pedrito has been a tenant in the park for nearly four years. In April, he and others received a letter that notified them their lease would not be renewed and that they would have to vacate by October 30, 2022.
Grand Canyon University purchased the 61-space mobile home community in 2016 for $3.4 million.
GCU officials said they made it clear when it purchased the Periwinkle property it would be used for future campus development.
In a statement to 12 News:
"As a university that is deeply committed to the City of Phoenix and the Village of Maryvale, we don’t take this process lightly and realize that relocating their mobile homes to other nearby parks can be a hardship for the people who live in Periwinkle. We are taking a number of steps to make the transition as seamless as possible."
The letter provided to neighbors directed them to money available through Arizona's Mobile Home Relocation Fund to assist with moving.
"Tenants who are required to move due to a change in use resulting in closure or redevelopment of a mobile home park may receive funds for the lesser of the actual moving expenses of relocating the mobile/manufactured home to a new location that is within a 100-mile radius of the vacated mobile home park, or the maximum of $7,500.00 for a single section mobile/manufactured home, or $12,500.00 for a multi-section mobile/manufactured home."
Still, Juan said finding a new park has been challenging.
“I go to different parks to buy but the costs are up," said Pedrito.
The university said they are offering tenants up to $5,000 worth of household goods such as beds, furniture, microwaves, fans, etc., from our CityServe warehouse to help furnish their mobile homes after relocation and plan to meet with community members next week.
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