Fashion Outlets buy mobile home park

NIAGARA, N.Y. (WIVB) - A major mall is expanding onto the grounds of a mobile home park.

Located right next to the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, Sabre Park sits on prime real estate. In June, when the park went into foreclosure, residents called News 4 concerned they would lose their homes in the process.

The Fashion Outlets is one of the biggest retail magnets in Upstate New York, drawing tourists from all over the world. The company that owns the mall is also buying Sabre Park and the few homeowners that are left want to know what will happen to them.

A handful of Sabre Park residents watched as their home turf was sold in a foreclosure auction on Friday. They have known for more than a year a new owner was waiting in the wings to put them out. Now they know the new owner runs the outlet mall right next door.

Robert Kenoe said, "Now I know someone bought it. Now I've got to pick up, move, move my family out of where they are at. Different school districts, and I'm not too happy."

The new owner, Fashion Outlets-Two, LLC, a subsidiary of Macerich - the California based owner of the Fashion Outlets - bought Sabre Park for $4 million. Most of the homeowners who could move their homes have already found another place to live. Those who couldn't move their homes have just abandoned them. The only residents left have one year leases.

Macerich spokesman Karen Maurer said, "We know that our next steps would be to continue to secure ownership of Sabre Park and then to begin to work directly with the park manager, begin assessing the lease agreements, and the operating issues."

Margaret Peters' family has owned her mobile home for 36 years. Now she, her husband Kenneth Mahon, and their family are wondering what they are going to do.

"I have a little grandson coming and so it's not just me and my husband, it's my son and my daughter-in-law are looking for a place to that they're going to have to find," Peters said.

But even tougher to take:

Peters added, "I'm used to having something that is my own, and now I'm not going to have something that's my own anymore."

The spokesman for Sabre Park's new owner told News 4 they will honor the terms of the leases.