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Well-manicured landscaping, green space and proximity to the beach were some of the big draws for Al and Elaine Plew when they bought their home in Marco Shores Estates in 2002.

But it was the sense of community that really sold them.

“We were out on Marco Island for 32 years and didn’t know any of our neighbors,” said Elaine Plew, 63.

So when the couple, seasonal residents from Indiana, learned that there was a push by the community to buy the land that their homes are on, and turn the park into a co-operative, they quickly signed on.

“It’s about security,” the 66-year-old Al Plew said as he sipped iced tea in the couple’s kitchen.

When they first moved here, the thought of having the park sold from under them wasn’t a worry, he added.

“It wasn’t even thought of until last year,” he said.

That’s when the previous owner sold the park to the current owner, and a few months later a neighboring mobile home park was unsuccessful in its efforts to keep from being sold. This got Marco Shores Estates residents thinking: Could that happen to them?

Like many manufactured and mobile home parks in East Naples, residents of Marco Shores Estates rent the land occupied by their manufactured homes.

However, after the park’s longtime owner sold the property, along with two other plots in February, residents took it upon themselves to approach new owner Patrick O’Malley and let him know that they were interested in buying the park from him.

“We arranged a business meeting in March,” said Chuck Callahan, a former president of the Marco Shores Estates Board of Directors. “We told him that if he ever had a wish to resell the property, that we would certainly be interested.”

Within a week, O’Malley sent word that he would entertain an offer, Callahan said.

So residents began the long, tenuous process to buy the park.

By the time news broke in May that Greystone Mobile Home Park was sold from under its residents, it only strengthened the resolve of those living in Marco Shores Estates to get the process done.

But it wasn’t until last fall that things really got in motion, Callahan said.

The community began organizing and contacting conversion companies to help residents put together a bid to buy the park.

“We interviewed five different conversion companies and chose Lifestyle Choice Realty,” he said.

Lifestyle Choice Realty president Bill Gorman calls his company “one-stop shopping” for conversions.

“Our job is we do everything from A to Z, to help them buy,” Gorman said. “We’ll come in (and) negotiate the contract, bring in lenders, help with the subscription drive to sell shares, and arrange legal council.”

The company also has an agreement with the residents to stay on as the property’s management company for the first six months, until things get settled, Gorman said.

Gorman, who had been in talks with Greystone residents in an effort to co-op the park, said that what happened in Greystone was tragic, but that the Marco Shores situation was slightly different.

“The difference is that Marco Shores was proactive and Greystone had to be reactive, because they didn’t even know that their park was on the market,” Gorman said at a recent subscription drive meeting to sell shares. “I have no doubt that Greystone residents would have been able to close, but they were never given the opportunity. The owner put it under contract and the first time Greystone residents heard about the sale was after the contract was signed.”

After a drawn-out legal battle, Collier Circuit Judge Cynthia Ellis denied the Greystone residents’ request for an injunction to stop the sale of their park to Outdoor Resorts of Naples in December.

Gorman said that by taking the initiative, Marco Shores was able to go to the negotiating table and get a written offer to purchase the park.

“They’re trying to preserve their way of life in a changing market,” Gorman said. “They’re trying to control their destiny so they know what’ll be here five to 10 years from now.”

Although the park’s sale price hasn’t been released, due to ongoing negotiations, county documents show that Illinois firm Del-Meade Park sold three lots totaling 69.61 acres to O’Malley’s company, Marco Shores Estates MHP, for $14 million in 2006.

Residents are aiming to buy back the 41.58 acres the park is on, along with the majority of the adjoining 8.53-acre lot.

A total of 237 families live in Marco Shores Estates, so the homeowners board has been trying to get at least 119 families on board to buy “shares” in the co-op.

With 103 families already signed up and three prospective banks, including Wachovia, vying to be the purchase lender, more than 100 residents received some positive news Thursday during an informational meeting on the co-op process.

“It’s with a great deal of pleasure to announce,” Gorman said, “folks you’re going to be the owners in about a month.”

While cheers and applause ensued, 14-year residents Evelyn and Walter Arens felt their stress level slowly begin to recede after more than a year.

“We are so happy. We love living here and we think we have the greatest community,” said Evelyn Arens, 68. “We want it to be permanent and have control of where we want to live, without somebody coming in and destroying us like they’ve done to many parks in the area. We have control.”