Salinas, California — June 16, 2026
Residents of Alisal Country Estates Mobile Home Park have officially closed escrow and purchased their community, making it the first Resident Owned Community in Salinas, CA created over the past several years.
Alisal Country Estates is home to many working families, including a significant number of agricultural workers. In a region faced with a severe housing shortage and rising costs, the transition to resident ownership represents a critical step toward long-term stability and community control to help preserve existing affordable housing.
“This purchase means so much for my family, and our entire community,” says Leticia Castro Martinez, Treasurer of the community’s Board of Directors. “This is much more than just a purchase; it’s about the hardworking people who make our community stronger every day. In a time when families are working harder than ever to create a better future for the next generation, this represents hope, security, and a continued commitment to our community’s future.”
Salinas faces significant housing challenges because more than half of renters are considered rent-burdened, and limited housing supply has driven rents well above national averages. These pressures are especially acute for farmworker households who make up a substantial portion of the local workforce and have limited access to stable, affordable housing.
In traditional land-lease manufactured home communities, residents own the home in which they live and rent the land beneath the home, making residents vulnerable to increasing lot rents and the growing threat of displacement.
The purchase was made possible through extensive resident organizing and support from the California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD) and financing from ROC Capital, the CDFI arm of ROC USA.
The resident-owned cooperative was represented by UCI law school’s Community & Economic Development Clinic in the financing and purchasing of the park. Critical to the transaction was funding from the state Housing and Community Development (HCD) Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, without which the purchase would not have been financially viable.
With state housing programs at a crossroads and new legislation advancing in the state legislature, residents of mobile home parks throughout California remain hopeful that their communities will be able to convert to resident ownership. As California continues to struggle with housing affordability issues, Alisal Country Estates is a powerful example of how public investment in resident-owned communities delivers stability, equity, affordability, and long-term security for manufactured home communities. Policies like Serna, MORE, and SB 1092 can help make these outcomes more common across the state.
Supporting Organizations
About the California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD)
The California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that promotes cooperatives as a vibrant model to address the economic and social needs of California’s communities. CCCD supports myriad cooperatives in California (agricultural, arts and crafts, childcare, energy, housing, worker-owned, etc.) with start-up, management, and other technical assistance. Learn more at https://cccd.coop/ or contact Kim Coontz at ekcoontz@cccd.coop or 530-297-1032.
About ROC USA
ROC USA is a national nonprofit social enterprise working to make resident ownership viable and successful nationwide so that homeowners in manufactured housing communities can secure stable, affordable communities and build long-term wealth and opportunity. Learn more at https://rocusa.org/
About UCI’s Community & Economic Development Clinic
Housed within the law school at UC Irvine, the Community & Economic Development (CED) Clinic focuses on issues of community and economic development in low- and moderate-income populations, emphasizing non-adversarial, transactional approaches to advocacy. The CED Clinic works on issues related to homelessness, small business and nonprofit development, and policy initiatives designed to improve client communities. Learn more at https://www.law.uci.edu/academics/real-life-learning/clinics/ced.html
Current Legislation – SB-1092
Legislation currently under consideration in the State legislature could also have an impact. SB 1092, the Mobile Home Community Stability and Preservation Act, would require owners of manufactured home communities who intend to sell to provide residents the opportunity to match an outside offer, helping level the playing field and creating a pathway for residents to own their own parks. Introduced by State Senator Bill Allen, SB 1092 is co-sponsored by California Coalition for Rural Housing, Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, and ROC USA.