Santiago Communities Inc. is a step closer to developing a 200-unit manufactured home park near a water treatment plant in east Kennewick.

Santiago is eyeing three separate parcels owned by the Port of Kennewick east of the Kennewick water treatment plant and north of the Oak Street Industrial Complex off East Third Avenue for its newest development.

It would invest about $5 million to build roads, utilities and community facilities, as well as 200 lots. Residents would site manufactured homes in the park. The value of the project would top $25 million, based on a $125,000 price tag for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom manufactured home.

The port commission accepted Santiago’s $810,000 offer for 26.42 acres at its Feb. 18 meeting.  The deal is subject to a number of conditions and won’t close until Sept. 1, 2021.

Santiago paid $41,500 in earnest money, which will be applied to the purchase when the deal closes.

The proposal faces plenty of obstacles, including a life estate on the site and an agriculture lease that remains in effect through 2021. The future park straddles the Kennewick municipal boundary, with part of the property in the city and part in unincorporated Benton County.

The long lead time gives Santiago time to evaluate the feasibility of its vision and to conduct due diligence on rezone and evaluate environmental issues.

The purchase-sale agreement gives Santiago the right to enter the property to conduct tests, inspections and studies.

The port would retain water rights but would waive retaining a buy-back option on the land. The purchase includes $21,205 to support the port’s public art policy.

Santiago Communities, based in Orange County, California, sells manufactured homes and operates 42 manufactured home communities in the western U.S. Its lone Washington property is Santiago Country View Estates on East Game Farm Road in Kennewick.