What Sun does

Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE: SUI) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, that owns and operates approximately 500 properties across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and (via joint venture) Australia. Founded in 1975 as Sundance Enterprises, Inc. and taken public in December 1993, the company is organized around two core real estate verticals: manufactured housing (MH) communities, marketed under the Sun Communities brand, and outdoor hospitality, comprising RV resorts and campgrounds under the Sun Outdoors brand, family campgrounds under the Jellystone Park franchise, and UK holiday parks under the Park Holidays and Park Leisure brands.

Sun's underlying "technology" is a real estate property management and acquisition platform rather than a software product. Operationally, the company runs an integrated model that acquires, develops, expands, and operates MH and outdoor hospitality sites, supplemented by Sun Home Services, which provides on-site home sales, leasing, and property management to community residents. On the supply side, a dedicated acquisitions team targets fragmented MH and RV property owners with all-cash, tax-deferred (1031 exchange), or combination transaction structures, exploiting Sun's public-REIT capital access that private buyers cannot match.

The company generates revenue from four primary streams: recurring site rent and lease income from manufactured housing residents, nightly/weekly/seasonal RV site and accommodation fees from Sun Outdoors and Jellystone Park, UK holiday park accommodation and touring pitch revenue from Park Holidays and Park Leisure, and ancillary property management and home sales services via Sun Home Services. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies by property, location, and amenity tier. Sun serves a deeply fragmented end-customer base of individual MH residents and outdoor hospitality guests, with no material customer concentration.

Name

Sun

Legal name

Sun, Inc.

Website

https://suninc.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI) is a publicly traded REIT that owns and operates approximately 500 manufactured housing communities, RV resorts, and holiday parks across the U.S., Canada, and the UK, serving individual residents, RV travelers, and holiday park guests through brands such as Sun Communities, Sun Outdoors, and Park Holidays.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Manufactured Housing & Outdoor Hospitality REIT

NAICS

RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Recreational Camps (7212), RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Recreational Camps (72121), Accommodation (721), Traveler Accommodation (7211), Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) (721214)

SIC

Real Estate Investment Trusts (6798), Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Recreation Campgrounds (Amenities/Activities Focus) (THAMAJAJ)

Keywords

• Manufactured housing communities
• RV resorts
• Outdoor hospitality
• Holiday parks
• Real estate investment trust

Headquarters

HQ city

Southfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Manufactured Housing Community Rentals: Sun owns and operates manufactured housing communities, generating recurring rental income from site leases to manufactured home residents. Provides affordable housing options with amenities and customer service.
2. RV Resort and Campground Fees: Sun Outdoors brand operates RV resorts and campgrounds, generating revenue from nightly, weekly, and seasonal rentals of RV sites and accommodations.
3. Holiday Park Bookings: Park Holidays UK brand operates holiday parks across the UK, generating revenue from holiday accommodation bookings, touring pitches, and related hospitality services.
4. Property Management Services: Sun Home Services provides manufactured home sales, leasing, and property management services to residents within Sun's communities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sun is a fully integrated REIT that owns and operates manufactured housing communities, RV resorts, and holiday parks. The company operates through three primary brands—Sun Communities (manufactured housing in the U.S.), Sun Outdoors (RV resorts and outdoor hospitality in the U.S. and Canada), and Park Holidays (UK holiday parks)—with a portfolio of approximately 500 properties generating recurring rental and hospitality revenue.

Product overview

Sun is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates as a platform-plus-brands architecture. The core Sun Communities REIT Platform manages approximately 500 properties across manufactured housing and outdoor hospitality sectors. The portfolio consists of three primary brands: Sun Communities (the original and largest brand focused on manufactured housing in the U.S.), Park Holidays (UK-based holiday park operator acquired in 2022), and Sun Outdoors (rebranded from Sun RV Resorts in 2021, focused on RV resorts and outdoor hospitality in the U.S. and Canada). The company specializes in acquiring, operating, developing, and expanding manufactured housing communities and outdoor vacation properties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Jellystone Park: Family-friendly vacation destination franchise purchased in 2021, operating campgrounds and RV resorts under the Yogi Bear characters brand.

Products and services

• Sun Communities Manufactured housing community brand operating in the United States, providing attainable housing options with outstanding amenities and customer service to manufactured home residents through site leases.
• Sun Outdoors Collection of RV resorts and campgrounds dedicated to outdoor hospitality in the United States and Canada, offering relaxed staycation experiences with elevated amenities for RV enthusiasts and outdoor travelers.
• Park Holidays Holiday park operator in the United Kingdom with properties stretching from Cornwall to Suffolk and up to Yorkshire and Scotland, providing holiday accommodations, touring pitches, and related hospitality services.
• Sun Home Services Provides manufactured home sales, leasing, and property management services to residents within Sun's manufactured housing communities, supporting resident move-ins and ongoing tenancy management.
• Sun Communities REIT Platform The overall corporate real estate investment trust platform encompassing approximately 500 properties across the U.S., Canada, and the UK, including manufactured housing, RV communities, and hospitality properties.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2011-present: Over 300 properties acquired with transaction value over $5 billion
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ingenia Communities Group (ASX: INA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Formed strategic 50/50 joint venture with Ingenia Communities Group in 2018 to develop manufactured housing communities in Australia. This partnership expanded Sun's international footprint into the Australian market.
• Jellystone Park FranchisecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIn 2021, Sun purchased the entire Jellystone Park franchise after being a franchisee for many years. This added family-friendly vacation destinations to the company's growing portfolio of properties.
• US HungerminorOthersPartnership with US Hunger for meal packing initiatives - 600+ team members united at Elevate to pack 100,000+ meals with US Hunger for veterans and families in the Orlando community.
• Marine Conservation SocietyminorOthersPark Holidays UK team participates in Marine Conservation Society's Great British Beach Clean Up, resulting in nearly 5,000 volunteers cleaning up over 140,000 pieces of litter.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bourne Leisure (Haven Holidays): Owner of Haven Holidays, the largest UK holiday park operator. Direct competitor to Park Holidays/Park Leisure in UK caravan and holiday-park accommodations with comparable family-oriented coastal resort positioning.
• Ingenia Communities Group: Australia's largest land-lease and lifestyle community operator (ASX: INA) and Sun's 50/50 JV partner for Australian MH development. Direct overlap in MH site-lease model and a key international partner comparable.
• Center Parcs UK: UK-based forest village short-break operator (owned by Brookfield). Direct competitor in UK short-stay holiday accommodations, comparable to Park Holidays/Park Leisure's domestic-tourism positioning.
• Equity LifeStyle Properties: Largest direct competitor to Sun, operating MH communities, RV resorts, and marinas across the U.S. Closely matched business model — same asset classes, similar property-management operations, and same REIT structure (NYSE: ELS).
• UMH Properties: Manufactured housing REIT (NYSE: UMH) operating ~140 MH communities across the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. Direct competitor in the core MH site-lease business with overlapping value proposition of attainable housing.

Others

• American Tower / Outfront Media REITs: Adjacent net-lease infrastructure REITs — comparable as large publicly traded REITs with similar capital-access dynamics, though in fundamentally different asset classes. Useful as capital-structure and valuation comparables rather than direct competitors.

Broad incumbents

• Invitation Homes: Largest U.S. single-family rental (SFR) REIT (NYSE: INVH). Compares to Sun as a residential REIT — Sun's new CEO Charles Young was previously President/COO — and competes indirectly for the same attainable-housing renter pool.
• Camping World Holdings: Largest U.S. RV retailer, parts, and service network (NYSE: CWH). Adjacent to Sun Outdoors in the RV ecosystem — supplies RV owners who stay at Sun's RV resorts — but operates on a retail model rather than property ownership.

Regional players

• Elme Communities: U.S. multifamily REIT (NYSE: ELME) focused on mid-Atlantic and Sun Belt affordable-to-workforce housing. Comparable as a residential REIT competing for the attainable-housing renter pool in Sun's geographic footprint.
• Veris Residential: U.S. multifamily REIT (NYSE: VRE) with concentration in New Jersey. Comparable as a publicly traded residential REIT operating in the same Northeastern regulatory environment as several Sun MH communities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SunCommunitiesInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/suncomm
• Instagraminstagram.com/suncommunities

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sun