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Mobile home parks swept up

A developer plans to build 248 townhomes at the former Tropical Breeze and Sunset Lakes sites.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published April 22, 2005

CLEARWATER - Piles of twisted metal, shells of trailers and a beat-up couch with yellow caution tape stuck to it are all that's left of the mobile home community on Sunset Point Road just west of U.S. 19 that was bought by KB Home Tampa for $8.5-million.

The residents of the dilapidated Tropical Breeze and Sunset Lakes mobile home parks behind Circuit City are gone. Instead, construction crews are tearing down and hauling away what's left of the parks that held 192 mobile homes and making way for a townhouse community.

KB Home Tampa intends to build 248 townhomes. Homes are expected to go on sale in the next six to eight months and will sell for between $100,000 and $200,000 each, according to Marshall Gray, division president for KB Home Tampa. The Community Development Board approved the project Tuesday.

Residents were given the option of using moving consultants brought in by the parks' owners, Global Financial Investments LLC, to help them relocate. In compliance with state law, residents were compensated for the move by the state.

"The park was in literally a condemnable state," said Keith Lawes, manager for Global Financial Investments. "The city was very thankful for us cleaning it up.

"About half (of the mobile homes) were already abandoned, and you could tell it was definitely not an upscale mobile home community."

The original plans for the townhouse community called for 281 units and was approved by the development board in August. The plan was later amended to 248 units so developers could include models with garages.

Homes will be 1,100 to 1,700 square feet and attached in groups of four or six. The community, to be named Sunset Pointe, will include a pool and play area.

Crews will continue to prepare the site for development for another 60 days, Gray said. KB Home, headquartered in Los Angeles, has one community in Pinellas County at U.S. 19 and Harn Boulevard.

The development board cited the project as an opportunity to improve the appearance of the northeast area of the city. KB Home Tampa will have to improve the condition of Lawson Road.

"In our case from a very old and dated mobile home community to a brand new townhome community with amenity package . . . is just a huge improvement to the area," Gray said.

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 00:44:19]