The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About10-07-25 Public Comment - G. Oakland - October 7th Consent Agenda Item H.1. Comment attached.From:Landy Leep To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]October 7th Consent Agenda Item H.1. Comment attached. Date:Tuesday, October 7, 2025 10:39:50 AM Attachments:Oct 7 City Comm Item H 1 Public Comment.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Good Morning, The attached document pertains to Item H.1 at tonights meeting. Please share with the Mayor and Commissioners. Thanks Landy Leep on Behalf of Gary Oakland. October 7, 2025 Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners: Re: Consent Agenda Item H.1. (King Arthur Park and Mountain Meadows Estates.) As owner and operator of the above-mentioned properties for over 4 decades, I am surprised and disappointed to see this topic on the City of Bozeman consent agenda. •At what point did my decision to sell my businesses become your business? o Does the City Council regularly interject themselves in private real estate transactions in the Gallatin County? •To begin, I need to correct some inaccuracies: o The housing stock currently located in the parks is not in danger. ■The residents are our customers. It makes no sense for me, or any prospective purchaser, to do a mass eviction of the residents. The value of these businesses as going concerns is greater than the real estate value. ■I will only sell the properties to professional manufactured home park operators. ■Whether I keep the properties, or sell them, they will remain manufactured home parks. •I have three absolute requirements for me to accept an offer on the parks: o The offer had to be market value. o The offer had to be cash at closing. A highly leveraged buyer would be a concern for the future operation of the park. o The buyer must be an experienced manufactured home park operator with a good reputation. •I have received many offers to purchase the parks, including an offer from NeighborWorks. o I have not met with any of the entities making offers. o I hired a national commercial real estate firm (Berkadia) to negotiate the offering of the parks. Like a house sale, the broker at Berkadia is the intermediary between Buyer and Seller. o I am not sure of the exact relationship between NeighborWorks and the tenant's union. o Many residents of the parks are not members of the tenant's union. o The last I heard, slightly over half the residents have joined the tenants' union, after much strong arming by the union organizers. o While soliciting bids to purchase the parks, NeighborWorks submitted an offer. The offer was substantially below the market value. Early in the process, I had our broker contact NeighborWorks to inform them the offer was significantly low and offered an opportunity to submit a second offer. o The second offer was not in the top ten offers. o Additionally, it became evident the NeighborWorks group did not have the capital to close. •For the record: o I am a third generation Montanan, graduated from Montana State University and currently reside in Billings. o I have owned and operated many businesses focused on affordable housing over the last 50 years. (Namely, other Manufactured Home Parks, Manufactured Home Retail Sales Lots, Affordable single-family subdivisions, and affordable home construction businesses.) My companies have helped thousands of individuals and families attain affordable housing. o I have been a long-term philanthropist throughout Montana. See the attached list of just some of the organizations my companies contribute to. •Why are there so few Manufactured Home Parks in Bozeman? o Over the last 40 years, the population of Bozeman has increased by approximately 50%. o The number of Manufactured Home parks has decreased. o City Zoning and Building Codes make it impossible to build new Manufactured Home Parks. o With no new supply, demand has skyrocketed. o Even with limited supply, King Arthur Park and Mountain Meadows still offer attainable, affordable housing options for residents of the Gallatin Valley. o If the City of Bozeman desires to address the issue of affordable housing that does not require tax breaks or public subsidies, begin by changing the zoning and building codes so new parks could be built in desirable locations at reasonable cost. o In 2016, I attempted to work with Gallatin County to adjust the zoning of the properties to accommodate adding several new spaces. During the rezoning process it became clear the County conditions would be economically impossible to add additional spaces. •Meeting with four local legislators. o At the request of the tenant's union, I personally met with four local state legislators on September 26th in Bozeman. o The meeting was amicable, and all the legislators agreed I have no obligation to sell the businesses for less than market value. As a long-time business owner in the Gallatin County, I respectfully request this council remove item H.1 from the consent agenda and vote against the Op-Ed letter. Sincerely, fi Gary Oakland •l'-,(•ltu1,Hu1" 1♦1,ttt li-:.:';,:_(,1'1( ... .-1,,t,_<_,Jl,?J,•,_.., Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital Habitat for Humanity Montana Special Olympics Montana The Quality of Life Run .l'.Y.Dfil90.LIP,COm/Race/MT/BilliogilQ!J.QlityofUfeRun Zoo Montana zoomontana.org MUS£UMoF THEROCKIES Museum of the Rockies museumoftherockjes.org BILLINGS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Billings symphony billiD.gs.s.y_mpbony..Qrg Yellowstone Art Museum --UNIVERSITY-- Pepperdine University Angel Flight West OAKLAND & COMPANY A real estate company 175 N. 27th Street, Suite 900 Billings, MT 59101 406-248-3641