Wanna Buy an RV Park?
The infamous "Rocking H" RV Park, a long-time Quartzsite problem child, is up for sale. A good sized park on Highway 95 on Quartzsite's north end has figured predominately in town affairs for some time. The situation here has centered for a long time on sewage disposal--there was at one time (and may still be) an on-site disposal system, but quarrels between the park's owner and local government eventually resulted in park dwellers having their waste pumped out by truck. Town father's attempted to shut the park down on numerous occasions, but never quite succeeded.
Where the town failed, money finally prevailed. The Rocking H has gone into bankruptcy the banko court has asked for outside help in attempting to liquidate the park as an asset. RV Park Consulting responded to the job, and wrote this interesting squib on the park's condition:
"The Rocking H is permitted for 150 RV sites on city sewer and city utilities. Some sites are narrow. Most of all, the park has been let go. First impression is to bring in a bulldozer. The pool is drained (it leaked) paint peeling, 2400 square foot clubhouse needs re-roofing. It has been used for “storage”. There are piles of junk on site. There is a single wide mobile home with two doors which is used as two rental units. The other rental cabins on site need to be renovated or replaced. There are older mobile homes on site also. The existing park doesn’t entice modern RVers to stay. "
We know from first-hand experience some of the "conditions" at the "H." Some years back we had a group that rented the "clubhouse" on a weekly basis for meetings. The lighting was almost non-existent, heat was non-existent, and we'd tell everybody to be sure to visit their own bathroom before they came, because the toilets were closed and padlocked.
Why would anyone want to buy the Rocking H? RV Park Consulting thinks the "H" would be an ideal "project" to pick up for a song, invest a few more dollars in, then turn around and sold as "condo units." How much of a song are they singing? The firm figures an investment of a little over two and a quarter million to buy out the old park, another couple million for improvements, and then sell out 94 "condos" at anywhere between $70,000 and $125,000 each.
We propose a much better idea: How about a new Escapees park? With volunteer labor that $2 million in improvement costs could certainly be reduced substantially. And with as popular an area for RVing as Quartzsite is, this fulltiming RV group could hardly do better for a new location. The big fight over sewage disposal is over--according to the consultants, the park is now hooked up to city sewer. With that major hurdle out of the way, this could be an ideal opportunity for SKPs to make more moves into Arizona. We'll get a few photos and post a followup shortly.
Where the town failed, money finally prevailed. The Rocking H has gone into bankruptcy the banko court has asked for outside help in attempting to liquidate the park as an asset. RV Park Consulting responded to the job, and wrote this interesting squib on the park's condition:
"The Rocking H is permitted for 150 RV sites on city sewer and city utilities. Some sites are narrow. Most of all, the park has been let go. First impression is to bring in a bulldozer. The pool is drained (it leaked) paint peeling, 2400 square foot clubhouse needs re-roofing. It has been used for “storage”. There are piles of junk on site. There is a single wide mobile home with two doors which is used as two rental units. The other rental cabins on site need to be renovated or replaced. There are older mobile homes on site also. The existing park doesn’t entice modern RVers to stay. "
We know from first-hand experience some of the "conditions" at the "H." Some years back we had a group that rented the "clubhouse" on a weekly basis for meetings. The lighting was almost non-existent, heat was non-existent, and we'd tell everybody to be sure to visit their own bathroom before they came, because the toilets were closed and padlocked.
Why would anyone want to buy the Rocking H? RV Park Consulting thinks the "H" would be an ideal "project" to pick up for a song, invest a few more dollars in, then turn around and sold as "condo units." How much of a song are they singing? The firm figures an investment of a little over two and a quarter million to buy out the old park, another couple million for improvements, and then sell out 94 "condos" at anywhere between $70,000 and $125,000 each.
We propose a much better idea: How about a new Escapees park? With volunteer labor that $2 million in improvement costs could certainly be reduced substantially. And with as popular an area for RVing as Quartzsite is, this fulltiming RV group could hardly do better for a new location. The big fight over sewage disposal is over--according to the consultants, the park is now hooked up to city sewer. With that major hurdle out of the way, this could be an ideal opportunity for SKPs to make more moves into Arizona. We'll get a few photos and post a followup shortly.
posted by Russ and Tiña De Maris at
11:07 AM
4 Comments:
Developer needs to turn it into home sites.
By
Anonymous, at January 6, 2008 9:13 AM
An SKPs park is a great idea. Maybe I'll call in the contract (membership) and go there and volunteer my help.
By
nita, at January 6, 2008 4:11 PM
As far as an SKP Park there....
May be a good idea, maybe not.
Maybe good from an investment standpoint, because that property will continue to increase in value over the years putting a lot of equity in the pocket of the SKP organization.
On the other hand since soo much of the work is always volunteer and the main idea of the SKP organization is to provide a long term quality RV experience for SKP'ers, it might be better to purchase a plot of desert outside of city limits at a far more reasonable price. Does SKP REALLY need another park considering the economy and rising cost of fuel and slow down in RVing?
By
R. Kirkpatrick, at January 7, 2008 11:15 AM
Thanks for the info. We have been looking into moving to that area of AZ. Now we know to avoid that park.
Plus... With real estate prices falling everywhere, why purchase a desert eyesore when so many other nice properties are available and are more reasonabily priced?
By
Anonymous, at January 21, 2008 4:31 PM
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