Get To The CHOPPA!
The story begins with Croom and dirt bike lovers everywhere.
The area of land now, the Croom Motorcycle Area (CMA), has a history dating back to the late 1800s when phosphate mining began. The mining era of Croom lasted a quarter of a century, ending in 1924. Today, Croom is part of the vast Withlacoochee State Forest, which the State of Florida acquired in 1958. Initially, off-road motorcycles on the property were prohibited; however, local residents came together and, through a public meeting, established a 2,600 area of the forest permitted for off-road bikes and vehicles.
People have come worldwide for decades to enjoy off-roading and dirt biking at CMA. Two friends, both Indiana residents and motocross enthusiasts, Brent and Pete, have visited the Croom every winter since the mid-1990s. Each year, they would stay at local campgrounds or at one of the small local hotels to spend a few weeks on Croom's trails. Aside from their love of motocross, the two men dabbled in real estate.
Yes, Florida Real Estate is part of this story, a big part.
Real estate became less of a focus for the pair when the market crashed in the mid-2000s. But by 2012, they began to see an opportunity to acquire ‘ghost houses’ to flip and sell. They embraced the new Airbnb craze and started retaining some properties to utilize as Airbnb rentals. Their renovation projects began to focus solely on potential short-term rental properties; some they would keep and some they would sell.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Pete's parents, who owned a hotel in Treasure Island, Florida, decided to retire. With bookings down, it was a good time, but with prices falling, the parents didn't want to sell to just anyone and potentially lose a large part of their equity. For Brent and Pete, turning the old hotel into an Airbnb was just too enticing to pass on. They took on the project using limited staff and online management to turn the hotel into a profitable addition to their portfolio. The purchase worked for both parties, allowing Pete's parents to retain a steady income by financing the sale and for Pete and Brent to retain their liquid funds to renovate the property.
For Sale by Owner
The friends never stopped visiting Croom. Being in Florida allowed the friends to visit more often than their annual trips from Indiana. It was one of those visits when Pete and Brent observed an oddly placed ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign on a property inside the Withlacoochee State Forest.
“In March of 2022, Pete and I came up here to ride, and on the way in, we saw a For Sale by Owner sign. We looked at each other and thought, what could be for sale by owner inside the park?" Brent recalls. The two followed the dirt driveway to an open land area with a small house, pool, and shed. Brent turned to Pete and said, "Well, I mean, we have to buy this, right?" elaborating, "We can Airbnb in the middle of Croom! This is what we do, the two things we love." Right then, the pair picked a name, MotoRanch at Croom.
The pair closed on the purchase and began working on the property in April. That summer, Brent lived in a new triple-wide mobile home on the property while they cleared the land, added fencing, and began adding additional structures for their future business. By September, they were ready to launch MotoRanch at Croom, just in time for dirt bike season.
Fast Forward 2023
The first season of MotoRanch at Croom was a good one. "We didn't get to stay here from September to May because we were always full." Explains Brent. "We decided to get two storage containers and renovate them into one-bedroom units with a shared kitchen and deck. This would increase the availability for the two to enjoy MotoRanch at Croom for themselves.
During this time, Pete was perusing Facebook Marketplace only to find a Chinook Helicopter for sale in Plant City, Florida. Pete says, "Hey, I found this helicopter on Facebook; it's 50 feet long and keeps coming down on price." Brent immediately replied, "Why are we talking about storage containers? Pull that thing up!” The pair researched and saw that the Chinook had initially been listed for about 80k and now had an asking price of 40k.
CHOPPA
The Chinook had been on active duty in Afghanistan. “There’s a sticker on one of the windows that is a ‘Triple Three’ with a fire logo. Someone from a military group on Facebook claims to have put that sticker on the chopper in Afghanistan. The guy told us he had made that sticker while serving over there as a side hustle; it was his brand mark and that he had put it on that window.” States Brent.
"The story goes," says Brent, "the Chinook had been stored in a warehouse and was being used for parts. When they were done with it, the Army came in, stripped everything they wanted or was important out of it, and just left it. The people who owned the warehouse took possession since it was abandoned. They then sold the Chinook to a skydiving group out of Polk City. They used the Chinook as their offices, just a shell with a big table and chairs. When they sold it to us, they had one AC unit on the side, a couple of tables, and a mini fridge, that's it."
Get To The CHOPPA!
Just like buying property, buying the Chinook CH-470 Helicopter was something they had to do. With their experience in renovation projects, the pair didn’t anticipate the difficulty of the Chinook project. It was impossible to find parts, so many of the features are custom and handmade.
When you arrive at MotoRanch at Croom, your eyes are immediately drawn to the 50-foot Chinook Helicopter with its fenced yard and deck, covered and facing the open acres of the property. Depending on your preference, a hammock and a jump seat are within the fenced area. The deck has a bar-height table and chairs for groups to gather. Pete and Brent put their renovation skills to work inside the Chinook, transforming the helicopter into a two-bedroom (with queen-size beds), one-bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, private back porch, Airbnb.
Along the left side interior of the craft is a plexiglass wall revealing the inner workings, “the bones,” as Brent explains. “The entire thing was just rust. We had the entire thing spray foamed before adding the new metal sheathing, but we wanted to keep this area open so people could see the bones of the aircraft.” The length of the Chinook is trimmed with LED lights, “The whole thing lights up in blue at night.”
As you enter the main cabin through a newly installed entryway, you enter a generous-sized living room that sits adjacent to the fully equipped kitchen with a full-size refrigerator, range, double-copper sinks, pot rack, and custom countertops with inlaid chain and sprockets. Moving to the cockpit, you find a bedroom with a queen-sized bed and a set of captain's chairs with views through the main cockpit windows. At the back end of the craft sits the second bedroom with an exit to the private patio and fenced yard. "This is my favorite part," boasts Brent, "This is where the loading ramp is."
Reminiscing
Our visit to the CHOPPA was accompanied by a Vietnam Veteran who couldn’t help but reminisce. In the living room, he reminded us, “There used to be rows of jump seats here, and they would squeeze a company of 130 to 150 troops inside this thing.” The veteran remembered jeeps driving into Chinooks in Vietnam when we exited the back patio.
MotoRanch at Croom
The Chinook CH-470 Helicopter, known as "CHOPPA," can sleep six and is currently available on Airbnb and other platforms for $183 per night. We were warned by Brent that prices would be increasing shortly. Nevertheless, prices will remain affordable.
There are several other properties on the compound to include:
Each of the six properties has its own private fenced yard. This was an essential feature to Brent and Pete, allowing visitors to store their bikes and equipment in a secure area. “We are also dog lovers and wanted a place where people felt comfortable bringing their dogs,” says Brent.
One of the most unique opportunities at MotoRanch at Croom is the MotoRanch Takeover, where you can rent the entire property of 5 acres and 6 units for $800 a night. This is enough space to sleep, 27 people! Visitors enjoy privacy, fenced areas, open areas, a firepit, satellite TV, WiFi, wash stations, pergolas, grills, and private access to Croom's trails.