INFORMATION ABOUT SUN COMMUNITIES, INC.
We are a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT. We own, operate, and develop manufactured housing, or MH, and recreational vehicle, or RV, communities concentrated in the midwestern, southern and southeastern United States. We are a fully-integrated real estate company which, together with our affiliates and predecessors, has been in the business of acquiring, operating, developing and expanding MH and RV communities since 1975. As of December 31, 2017, we owned and operated or had an interest in a portfolio of 350 properties, which we refer to as Properties, located in 29 states throughout the United States and one province in Canada, including 230 MH communities, 89 RV communities, and 31 Properties containing both MH and RV sites. As of December 31, 2017, the Properties contained an aggregate of 121,892 developed sites comprised of 83,294 developed manufactured home sites, 22,742 annual RV sites (inclusive of both annual and seasonal usage rights), and 15,856 transient RV sites; we have approximately 9,600 additional MH and RV sites suitable for development. We lease individual parcels of land, or sites, with utility access for placement of manufactured homes and RVs to our customers. The Properties are designed to offer affordable housing to individuals and families, while also providing certain amenities.
We are engaged through SHS, a taxable REIT subsidiary, in the marketing, selling, and leasing of new andpre-owned homes to current and future residents in our communities. The operations of SHS support and enhance our occupancy levels, property performance and cash flows.
Structured as an umbrella partnership REIT, or UPREIT, the Operating Partnership is the entity through which we conduct substantially all of our operations, and which owns, either directly or indirectly through SHS and other subsidiaries, all of our assets. This UPREIT structure enables us to comply with certain complex requirements under the U.S. federal tax rules and regulations applicable to REITs, and to acquire MH and RV communities in transactions that defer some or all of the sellers’ tax consequences. We are the sole general partner of, and, as of December 31, 2017, held approximately 96.7% of the interests (not including preferred limited partnership interests) in, the Operating Partnership. The interests in the Operating Partnership held by the partners are referred to herein as OP Units.
We were incorporated in Maryland on July 23, 1993 and completed the initial public offering of our common stock on December 9, 1993. Our executive and principal property management office is located at 27777 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Southfield, Michigan 48034 and our telephone number is(248) 208-2500. We have regional property management offices located in Austin, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; Ft. Myers, Florida; and Orlando, Florida; and we employed an aggregate of 2,727 full time and part time employees as of December 31, 2017.
Our website address is www.suncommunities.com, which contains information concerning us and our subsidiaries. Information included or referred to on, or otherwise accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference or otherwise a part of this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement.
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