The money will be used to purchase the property from the E.J. Bickley Trust for $39 million. The remaining funding will be used to "scrape the park, put in some roads and rezone it," says Gorczycki. An opportunity fund provided the debt and equity.

The 551-unit mobile home park was built in the 1970s and is located about one-quarter of a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Sun Vista plans to develop 800 units on the site, which is consistent with the city's master plan for the area although it must be rezoned prior to redevelopment. "The question is how much development," says Gorczycki. "It will probably be some combination of townhouses, condos and possibly single-family homes."

Sun Vista must wait until all tenants of the park relocate prior to seeking rezoning. This is expected to occur over the next six to nine months. "The tenants were given the opportunity to purchase the park, but they turned it down," says Gorczycki.

With its close proximity to the water, the site is ripe for redevelopment. Most of the available open land in the area is one- or two-acre sites, so to get a 53-acre site was a great opportunity, the executive says. Most of the condos on the beach are selling for approximately $900 per sf.

"Multiple opportunity funds and mezzanine groups saw the value and competed heavily for the offering," says Gorczycki. "Sun Vista will either sell to a housing developer after completion of the infrastructure or the company will complete the development themselves."