The Garlic Farm RV Park
Source- East Bay Times
GILROY — A Central Valley firm that produces manufactured housing has bought a big Gilroy RV complex where the company intends to build numerous tiny homes in an effort to create affordable residences in Silicon Valley.
Harmony Communities, acting through multiple affiliates, has bought the site of the Garlic Farm RV Park, according to Santa Clara County public documents filed on Jan. 6.
“The park, located 25 miles from San Jose, contains 158 spaces, which will be gradually converted to affordable, attractive tiny home lots,” Harmony Communities said in comments provided to this news organization.
The redevelopment of the park represents a significant effort to create affordable housing in the South Bay.
“This conversion will bring the largest influx of affordable homes the area has seen in the last 20 years,” said Matthew Davies, president and founder of Harmony Communities.
The anticipated target price for the tiny homes is expected to be around $89,950
The affiliates of Harmony Communities paid $9 million for the property, county documents show.
The just-purchased site is located at 5878 Garlic Farm Drive in Gilroy and totals 8.7 acres, according to property records.
“The goal is to bring in at least 100 tiny homes over the next three years,” Harmony Communities stated in an email to this news organization. “The tiny homes will be for sale and homeowners rent the spaces in the park.”
Most of the tiny homes will have an average size of 400 square feet, according to Harmony Communities. Many will have a loft that will help increase the space in the residence.
Stockton-based Harmony Communities will also install solar power to supply the entire park by the end of 2021.
The 518-kilowatt system will produce 800,000 kilowatts annually, supplying 95 percent of the energy needed by the park’s residents, the park’s new owners estimated.
Harmony Communities began installing solar panels in its California communities in 2012, eight years prior to the enactment of a state law that requires solar panels on all newly constructed homes.
The new statewide law doesn’t apply to manufactured homes. But Harmony Communities points to energy-saving successes at some of its complexes such as Santa Nella Mobile Home Park in the Merced County of Gustine.
The installation of solar panels at the Santa Nella complex cut electric bill costs by 87% in 2019 and are projected to save over $3 million over the next 25 years, Harmony Communities estimated.
Harmony Communities is convinced that the development of tiny homes at the site will help make a dent in the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area.
“We’re providing affordable housing for more than 100 families in an area where the median home price is over $800,000,” Davies said.
Photos Courtesy: Champion Homes
