The history of Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park seems to have been almost forgotten. This news article will explain the history behind Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park and how trailer parks such as this one helped give Austin its funky vibe.
Thrasher Mobile Home Park was developed in 1997 on land which was small property owned by Aus-tex Parts & Services Ltd. The trailer park only allowed single-wide units and charged $215 per month. This small property allowed trailers and mobile homes on their property for the least expensive rate in all of Austin.
On the date of 12/17/2009 is when Aus-tex Parts & Services Ltd sold the land to DEMPSEY BUCHANAN LP by a special warranty deed. (Ref: Travis CAD Deed Number 2009213207)
Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park had 22 lots by 2010. 2 more lots than the original 20 lots that were plotted.(Ref: https://www.mobilehomeparkstore.com/mobile-home-parks/27342-thrasher-mobile-home-park-in-austin-tx)
Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park had 20 lots by 2011. 2 more lots than the original 20 lots that were plotted. URBAN RIO LLC purchased the land from DEMPSEY BUCHANAN LP on the date of 7/22/2014 on a warranty deed. (Ref: Travis CAD Deed Number 2014108513)
Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park was dubbed as one of Austin's Disappearing Mobile Home Communities by the Austin Chronicle. (Ref: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2017-12-15/austins-disappearing-mobile-home-communities/, Austin's Disappearing Mobile Home Communities Redeveloping a manufactured housing park isn’t the only way its new owner can turn a profit)
Before the spring of 2017, URBAN RIO LLC announced they had sold the property to a real estate developer called TLH RIVERSIDE 6507. A 30 days notice was given to all of the residents telling them they had to leave that property within that timeframe if they did not want to be evicted.
Many residents argued that their single-wide trailers were not structurally sound enough for removal, auction, or relocation. Many of these trailers and mobile homes were older single-wide units which were considered too old to relocate.
Most residents of the Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park said they feared being displaced out of Austin. Many Austin trailer parks are at capacity or are only accepting newer mobile homes. In April 2017, Austin American Statesman reported that Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park was small community of about 15 mostly Hispanic families. (Ref: Austin American Statesman, A1, Saturday, April 1, 2017)
Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park sits within the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan. Residents of the Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park were told the park would be closing so the land could be part of the corridor vision. The East Riverside Corridor Master Plan aims to make the area more walk-able and bicycle-friendly with denser, mixed-use housing options.
Herman Cardenas, managing partner at Urban Rio LLC, which owns the mobile home park property as well as other nearby lots, said that covering the costs of a mobile home park in an area with rising property taxes and increasing fees is too expensive and not profitable. (Ref: Austin American-Statesman, A6, Saturday, April 1, 2017)
In Spring of 2017 is when residents of the Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park were evicted by their landlord. Over 17 families were displaced from the Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park. The displacement has impacted residents commute to work, school, and other daily necessities. Many of its former residents became homeless which others were pushed to the outskirts of town.
Susana Almanza facilitated the speedy displacement of the Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park. Susana Almanza sided with developers from TLH RIVERSIDE 6507 and Cypress Real Estate during the negotiations at Austin City Hall.Cypress Real Estate is also behind the redevelopment of Thrasher Lane.
On the date of 6/1/2017 is when URBAN RIO LLC sold the land to real estate developer TLH RIVERSIDE 6507 for multi-family unit apartments. Every trailer and mobile home was either relocated and demolished by the end of June 2017. (Ref: Travis CAD Deed Number 2017090131)
Every trailer and mobile home was either relocated and demolished by the end of June 2017. All that remained was the gravel lot on empty land. Grass soon grew over the small gravel lot.
By 2018, all that remained was a gravel lot. The small property turned into an illegal dump where trash was dumped. People still continue to dump trash illegally at this site.
Thrasher Lane was one of those trailer parks not zoned for mobile home use. So there was no protection for keeping 17 households from being removed. Many trailer parks in Austin are vulnerable because many of them are actually zoned for mobile home use. This means park owners can close the park and use the land for something else without going through any sort of city process.
“Mobile home parks are the last bastion for affordability in Austin. We can do a lot to preserve the ones that are already here. You can't get more affordable than mobile homes.” (Ref: Housing Affordability in Austin Brings New Attention to Mobile Home Parks, Gabriel Amaro, Latino Research Initiative)
Trailer parks such as Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park, Pecan Grove RV Park, Bel-Air Mobile Home Park, Holiday RV Park, and Grove Trailer Court are what gave Austin its funky vibe. A trailer park located next to the middle of the city is what made Austin weird. Austin is loses its weirdness when land owners sell their land to real estate developers and leave tenants homeless. You can't get more affordable than mobile homes.
Sadly Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park is not the only trailer park to be squeezed out by new development in a city where affordable housing options are mobile homes. Trailer parks are becoming under siege.
Thrasher Lane Mobile Home Park was located at 2110 Thrasher Lane, Austin, Texas, US 78741.
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