Dickerson Pike mobile home park tenants reached a tentative settlement with their developer to relocate.

The developer, Key Real Estate, has been trying to turn the mobile home park into a mixed use building. But Metro Council wanted to delay rezoning until the company offered compensation for tenants forced to move out.  

With the help of Workers’ Dignity and Paulen Solidarity Law, the tenants union was able to reach an agreement Monday night — a day before the council is expected to consider the zoning request once again.

Under the settlement, the 21 members of the tenants union will receive a total of $200,000 for relocating. The group was insistent that both current and former residents receive compensation, regardless of whether they already moved out voluntarily, which includes the families who took a deal with their former landlord to relocate to a mobile home park in Hunter’s Lane.

Attorney Jamie Paulen, who represented the group, says the deal was not only a win, but a testament to community organizing.

“When marginalized communities work together and decide to support each other, the result will be much better than when individuals decide to negotiate separately,” she says.

“This is an example for all Nashvillians that if they too organize with their neighbors and stand up as a community, they too can beat the odds,” Cecilia Prado, the lead organizer of Workers Dignity says. “After 5 months of organizing, residents are better than how they started. They got more time to move out of their community and compensation for having to leave their homes behind in the middle of a pandemic.”

It’s yet to be determined how the money will be split among households, Paulen says. She adds that the compensation is contingent upon whether the council approves rezoning.

“We are pleased to come to an agreement to provide financial assistance to W.C. Mobile Homes residents,” Anthony J. Iarocci, the CEO of Key Real Estate, said in a press release. “Our goal as developers is to improve the community and support positive growth in Nashville. However, we recognize that sometimes development projects can displace long-standing residents, so we believe offering to assist them was the right thing to do. We wish these neighbors nothing but the best as they transition to new homes.”

Clarification: This story originally called Key Real Estate the “landowner” of the mobile home park. It’s more accurate to continue referring to them as the “developer” as the rezoning request for the property is headed into consideration by Metro Council.