Darrel Ealum buys blighted Mimosa Trailer Park for $1 million

ALBANY — One of Albany’s most blighted neighborhoods may have gotten a new lease on life earlier this month when Darrel Ealum closed on the purchase of the controversial Mimosa Trailer Park on Clark Avenue for a reported $1 million. During an interview last week Ealum vowed to pour in an additional $500,000 to clean up the neighborhood.

“We had been in negotiations to purchase the property (from Mimosa Moble Home Park, LLC of Delray Beach, Fla.) for more than a year, and it was very frustrating,” Ealum said. “I made a final definitive offer, but they still wanted more money. I washed my hands of the deal at that point, then last week they called me back and said ‘let’s do this.’”

At one time the 13.8 acre tract had 94 single-wide trailers on the property. Today, according to tax records and Ealum, just 32 occupied homes are on the site, and four other trailers, stripped of their siding by thieves, are under court-approved demolition orders.

Ealum and his wife, Linda, through Ealum Estates, LLC, own four other mobile home parks in Dougherty and Lee Counties, and he sees the purchase as a win-win for his company and the city of Albany.

“Mimosa is a blighted property and its condition is typical for an absentee landlord. Linda and I are hands-on property owners, and we personally manage all of our properties, “Ealum said. “Linda and I know Mimosa will be time intensive and will require an immediate infusion of capital in the short term. It’s going to be a labor of love for our community, and we are committed to the challenge. We know the city will appreciate our efforts.”

Count Ward 1 City Commissioner Jon Howard among that number. Mimosa is in his district and he’s been fighting for years to clean up the blighted site.

“When I heard Darrel had bought the property I was elated,” Howard said. “I’ve been a commissioner for 20 years and cleaning up that park is one of my pet projects. We’ve had killings, drugs and prostitution out there. I feel sorry for the people who stay there now because they are normal people currently stuck in a bad place. I will be impressed if Darrel can eliminate the blight that has taken over that neighborhood.”

Park resident Jerald Wallace grew up in Mimosa. He remembers it once as a safe place to live. He hopes the Ealums can bring that back.

“This used to be a peaceful place to live up until around 2004, then the drug dealers began to move in and everything changed.” Wallace said. “It’s like before 2004 nothing ever happened around here. Now it’s gotten so bad you can’t leave nothing outside any more.”

Ealum is well aware that cleaning up Mimosa will require a lot of money, hard work and the cooperation of the city.

“I feel Linda and I have earned management credibility and good grace capital from our city fathers,” he said. “We have owned mobile home producing property in Dougherty County for 30 years. We believe our management skills and reputation precedes us. We believe the city fathers will give us time to turn Mimosa around. Today, it’s a blighted property in plain view along a gateway into our city; soon, we will reverse its reputation.”

The first order of business is to remove the four condemned trailers, then repair the broken roadway that runs through the property. Ealum then intends on redrawing the lot plans and bringing new double-wide homes onto the site. They also plan to implement property ownership in favor of rental management.

“Linda and I do not purchase raw property, that is not our management model. We only invest in income producing property.” Ealum said. “We are not in the rental business, we are in the financing business. We will bring in people who want to own their homes and take care of their property. We will transition this trailer park into a mobile home court as we have done with other properties in the past.”

And that is just what 25-year Mimosa resident Willie Henderson wants to hear.

“It’s gotten bad, especially over the past four years because people didn’t want to maintain nothing.” Henderson, a retired heavy equipment operator, said. “If they can get this thing right I have no problem with living here. This place used to be nice, I’d like to see that again.”