2026 U.S. RV Park Development Cost Benchmarks: Per-Pad Economics Across 50 States
- Alketa
- 3 hours ago
- 16 min read
Building an RV park in the United States today costs between $15,000 and $80,000 per site — and the difference between those numbers determines whether a project mints money or becomes a cautionary tale. The sweet spot for a well-built, mid-range park with full hookups and solid amenities sits at $30,000–$40,000 per site excluding land, according to developer-practitioners and corroborated across multiple industry sources. But regional variation is extreme: the same 100-site park that costs $2.5 million to build in rural Oklahoma might run $5.5 million in coastal California — before you buy the first acre. With the outdoor hospitality sector now generating $10.9 billion in annual revenue, institutional capital flooding in at unprecedented scale, and supply growing at just 1% per year against surging demand, the economics of RV park development have never mattered more. This report breaks down every cost component, region by region, and benchmarks the per-pad economics that drive investment decisions in 2026.
The $30,000 question: what does one RV site actually cost to build?
The most credible granular cost breakdown comes from developer Matt Whitermore of Outdoor Hospitality Weekly, who published a detailed per-site budget for a 100+ site park of "good to excellent quality" using third-party design/build teams. His line items, corroborated by figures from the Nadi Group, Campground Consulting Group, RoverPass, and Wert-Berater feasibility consultants, form the backbone of current industry benchmarking.
Cost Category | Per-Site Cost | Notes |
Surveys, engineering, permits | ~$2,500 | Soft costs; 15–25% of total project |
Grading and site work | ~$2,400 | Can spike dramatically with rock or steep terrain |
Road paving (site share) | ~$3,600 | Asphalt; gravel roads cut this by 40–60% |
Concrete patios and walkways | ~$3,200 | Optional; gravel-only parks skip this entirely |
Sewer/septic lines | ~$2,500 | Municipal sewer; septic systems can add $50K–$150K per system |
Water system and lines | ~$2,400 | Municipal water tap ~$1,200/site; well systems higher upfront |
Electrical (30/50-amp) | ~$4,000 | Largest utility line item; 50-amp requires 3.3× the capacity of 30-amp |
Buildings and amenities (amortized) | $5,000–$10,000 | Clubhouse, bathhouse, pool share across all pads |
Landscaping and miscellaneous | $5,000–$10,000 | Includes signage, fencing, fire pits, site furnishings |
Total (excluding land) | $30,600–$40,600 | Good-to-excellent quality benchmark |
This $30K–$40K range represents the industry's "institutional grade" standard — the quality level that attracts both transient guests paying premium nightly rates and long-term tenants willing to sign seasonal leases. Budget parks with gravel everything and minimal amenities can compress costs to $10,000–$20,000 per site, while luxury resorts with waterparks, clubhouses, fiber internet, and EV charging routinely exceed $60,000–$100,000 per site when shared amenities are fully amortized.
Regional cost variation runs 2:1 from Plains to Pacific
No single published source provides clean region-by-region development cost tables, but synthesizing construction cost indices, developer commentary, project data, and the consistent observation that "it is generally more expensive to build in blue states versus red states" produces reliable estimates. The Southwest and Plains states offer the most favorable construction economics; the Pacific and Northeast impose the steepest cost burdens.
Region | Budget Park | Mid-Range Park | Luxury/Resort |
Plains (KS, NE, SD, ND, OK) | $10,000–$18,000 | $20,000–$32,000 | $32,000–$50,000 |
Southwest (TX, AZ, NM) | $10,000–$20,000 | $22,000–$35,000 | $35,000–$55,000 |
Southeast (FL, GA, AL, SC, NC, TN) | $12,000–$22,000 | $25,000–$40,000 | $40,000–$60,000 |
Midwest (OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, MN) | $12,000–$22,000 | $25,000–$38,000 | $38,000–$55,000 |
Mountain West (CO, UT, MT, WY, ID) | $15,000–$25,000 | $28,000–$45,000 | $45,000–$70,000 |
Northeast (NY, PA, NJ, CT, MA, ME) | $18,000–$30,000 | $30,000–$50,000 | $50,000–$75,000 |
Pacific (CA, OR, WA) | $20,000–$35,000 | $35,000–$55,000 | $55,000–$80,000+ |
All figures exclude land acquisition. Includes infrastructure, utilities, amenities (amortized), and soft costs.
The key drivers behind regional spread include labor availability and prevailing wage requirements (California adds significant cost here), local permitting and impact fee regimes, material transport distances, terrain complexity, and climate-driven engineering requirements like Florida's hurricane hardening or Mountain West rock blasting. RSMeans City Cost Index data shows construction costs vary 30–50% between the cheapest rural Southern/Mountain markets and the most expensive coastal metros.
Infrastructure deep-dive: where the real money goes
Utility hookups represent the largest variable cost
Electrical infrastructure is consistently the single biggest utility line item at $3,000–$7,000 per site. Modern parks must offer both 30-amp and 50-amp service at every site — this is "not optional" in 2026. A 50-amp receptacle draws 12,000 VA versus 3,600 VA for 30-amp, requiring 3.3× the infrastructure capacity. The cost premium for 50-amp over 30-amp-only installations runs approximately 30–50% more in wiring and panel costs. Standard practice now calls for pedestals with 50-amp, 30-amp, and 20-amp receptacles rated at 100 amps total, costing $200–$500+ per pedestal unit alone, before underground conduit and transformer costs.
Sewer connections present the widest cost range of any single line item: $2,000–$12,000 per site. Municipal sewer access is the gold standard, typically running $1,000–$2,500 per site in connection fees plus per-site lateral installation. But many rural sites lack municipal sewer entirely. Septic systems cost $50,000–$150,000 per system, and parks exceeding certain flow thresholds may require on-site wastewater treatment plants costing $1 million or more — a single infrastructure decision that can reshape entire project economics.
Water connections range from $700 to $15,000 per site depending on whether the property connects to municipal water (cheaper long-term at ~$1,200/site) or requires wells ($5,000–$12,000 per well plus pump houses and treatment equipment, amortized across all sites).
Wi-Fi has shifted from amenity to infrastructure requirement. Nearly half of campers say Wi-Fi availability is crucial in choosing a campground, and 22% of RV-owning households include a remote worker. Park-wide mesh or fiber systems run $15,000–$35,000, amortizing to just $150–$350 per site for a 100-pad park. Luxury parks like Skye Texas Hill Country now offer gigabit-speed fiber at every site, and the Provident Realty Roaming Trails developments feature fiber optic Internet as a standard selling point.
Roads, pads, and grading: the foundation budget
The choice between gravel and asphalt roads creates the single largest controllable cost swing in site development. Gravel roads run $4–$10 per square foot versus $7–$15 for asphalt, translating to a per-site road allocation of roughly $1,500–$2,500 (gravel) versus $3,000–$6,000 (asphalt). For a 20-acre park, that's the difference between $80,000–$200,000 and $140,000–$300,000 in total road cost.
Concrete pads for a standard 16' × 40' surface at 6" depth cost approximately $3,840 per pad at ~$6/sq ft. Gravel pads drop that figure to $1,000–$2,500. Pull-through sites, which require 60–80 feet of length versus 35–50 for back-in configurations, cost proportionally more but command 15–30% rate premiums from guests who prize easy maneuvering.
Site grading averages ~$2,400 per site for relatively flat, open terrain but can spike unpredictably. Rock blasting adds $1 million or more to a project. Heavy tree cover, poor drainage soils, or steep topography can double or triple grading budgets. The industry's clearing/grading benchmark of $8,000–$12,000 per acre (Nadi Group) applies to moderately complex sites; flat former agricultural parcels come in well below this range.
Amenities amortize differently at 50 pads versus 200
Amenity investment is where parks differentiate between "place to park" and "destination resort," and the per-pad amortization math shifts dramatically with scale. A $250,000 clubhouse costs $5,000 per pad across 50 sites but drops to $1,250 across 200 sites. This scaling dynamic is why consultants recommend a minimum of 75–100 sites for financial viability, and why Staves Consulting flatly states "it takes 100 or more for a typical RV park to be profitable."
The major amenity cost benchmarks break down as follows. Swimming pools range from $50,000 for basic commercial installations to $300,000+ for resort-style complexes like the 65,000-gallon pool at Torrey Trails, amortizing to $500–$3,000 per pad depending on park size. Splash pads with filtration have emerged as a must-have family draw at $350,000–$500,000 — the single most expensive amenity after clubhouses. Bathhouses run $75,000–$150,000 for ADA-compliant facilities (prefab units available from $20,000–$130,000), typically deployed at a ratio of one per 25–50 sites, amortizing to $400–$4,000 per pad. Laundry facilities at $20,000–$40,000 are among the few amenities that generate offsetting revenue. Increasingly popular pickleball courts cost $15,000–$40,000 per court.
The total amenity load per pad ranges from $2,000–$5,000 for a budget park with a single bathhouse and playground to $10,000–$20,000+ for a full-service resort with pools, splash pads, fitness centers, clubhouses, and multiple recreation options. These figures explain why resort-tier projects like Splash RV Resort in Milton, Florida, hit ~$57,000 per site all-in — the water park, lazy river, and extensive recreation facilities consumed the bulk of incremental investment above infrastructure baseline.
Land acquisition: from $725 an acre in New Mexico to $22,500 in Rhode Island
USDA's 2025 Land Values Summary puts the national farm real estate average at $4,350 per acre, up 4.3% from 2024 — the fifth consecutive year of increases. But these agricultural averages significantly understate the cost of land actually suitable for RV park development, which requires road access, utility availability, and proximity to demand drivers.
The state-level spread is enormous. New Mexico ($725/acre), Wyoming ($975), and Montana ($1,200) anchor the low end. Rhode Island ($22,500), New Jersey ($16,600), Massachusetts ($14,900), and Connecticut ($14,400) represent the premium tier. The critical states for RV park development fall in between: Texas at $2,800/acre statewide (median rural transaction ~$4,702), Florida at $8,700 average but with coastal counties vastly higher, and California at $13,400.
For RV park-suitable parcels — meaning reasonable road frontage, utility access potential, and proximity to tourist corridors or metro areas — industry sources report $2,000–$5,000/acre in rural areas, $10,000–$25,000+ near national parks and major attractions, and $15,000–$60,000+ on suburban fringes near metros. At a standard density of 8–10 sites per usable acre, the per-site land basis ranges from $200–$500 in cheap rural markets to $1,500–$6,000+ in coastal Florida or California.
The trend direction is unambiguous: no state recorded a decline in cropland or pasture values in 2025. The 5-year compound annual growth rate for U.S. farmland runs 5.8% nominal and 2.0% inflation-adjusted. Demand drivers include federal disaster relief ($30 billion in the 2025 American Relief Act), solar and recreation conversion pressure, and suburban expansion into formerly rural areas.
Permitting: the invisible cost that kills projects
Permitting and entitlement expenses range from $10,000 to $50,000+
in direct fees, but the true cost is measured in time. Projects can take 4–12 months minimum through the permitting gauntlet and have been delayed several years in unfavorable jurisdictions. The Wild Camping Resort in Chittenango, New York — a $10 million, 200-site project — was put on hold indefinitely due to local planning board delays, a cautionary example of regulatory risk.
Texas stands out as the most developer-friendly major market. Many rural Texas counties have no zoning at all, enabling significantly faster development timelines. Texas TCEQ requires stormwater permits for disturbances over 1 acre and imposes special rules near the Edwards Aquifer, but overall regulatory burden remains light compared to coastal states. Idaho, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Montana similarly offer minimal regulatory layers in rural areas.
California represents the opposite extreme. CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) requirements are "stringent and time-consuming," and the Department of Housing and Community Development requires active Permits to Operate for all RV parks with separate state-level construction standards (Title 25). Impact fees in California jurisdictions rank among the highest nationally — up to a third of some cities' budgets derive from development-related fees. The result: "relatively few new parks in recent years, even as demand surges, leading to persistent waitlists."
Florida occupies an important middle ground. It leads all states in new RV site construction (approximately 3,600 new sites added 2022–2024), but navigating county-by-county regulations remains complex. Some counties have imposed moratoriums on new RV park permits, and Monroe County (the Florida Keys) maintains a severe building permit allocation system that functionally blocks most new development.
Impact fees vary wildly: $146 per pad in Hurricane Valley Fire District, Utah, versus $1,880 per RV space in Sarasota County, Florida. Total soft costs (permitting, engineering, legal, design, contingency) typically consume 15–25% of total development budgets.
Construction cost inflation adds 5–8% annually through 2026
The Mortenson Cost Index recorded 6.6% year-over-year construction cost inflation through Q3 2025, a sharp acceleration from the 1.9% rate of mid-2024. The culprit: tariff policy. Canadian softwood lumber duties jumped from 14.5% to 34.5% (Canada supplies 85% of U.S. softwood lumber imports). Steel and aluminum tariffs doubled to 50% in June 2025. Copper tariffs hit 50% in August 2024. Cumulative construction material costs have risen 40.5% since February 2020. Individual material trends tell the story. Lumber has stabilized at $450–$600 per 1,000 board feet after the 2021 spike to $1,500+, but tariffs pushed prices 12.2% higher year-over-year in 2025. Ready-mix concrete climbed 10.3% in 2022 and 11.2% in 2023, with precast concrete up 38.3% cumulatively since 2020. Steel rebar surged from $425/ton in mid-2020 to $709/ton by December 2024, with four major manufacturers raising prices an additional $60/ton in 2025. PVC piping — critical for water and sewer infrastructure — increased 48.5% cumulatively from 2020 to 2024 before modest stabilization.
Labor remains the dominant long-term cost driver. Construction wages rose 3.7% in the 12 months ending December 2024, and skilled labor shortages persist as the industry's most significant inflationary force. Construction employment growth in 2025 (+21,000 jobs through July) dramatically lagged the 10-year average of +140,000, indicating persistent tightness.
The net effect for RV park developers: plan for 5–8% annual cost escalation through 2026, build in 15–20% contingencies, and lock material pricing early where possible. Turner & Townsend projects global construction inflation of 3.9% in 2025 and 4.0% in 2026, though North American tariff effects push the regional figure higher.
A $10.9 billion industry with a severe supply problem
The U.S. RV parks and campgrounds industry generated approximately $10.9 billion in revenue in 2025, growing at a 5-year CAGR of about 1.9% and forecast to reach $11.4–$11.9 billion by 2028–2030. The broader RV ecosystem is substantially larger: RV dealers alone generated $52.1 billion in 2025 revenue, and the RV Industry Association estimates total economic impact at $140 billion annually, supporting 680,000 jobs.
The supply-demand imbalance defines the investment thesis. The U.S. has approximately 15,000–16,000 RV parks and campgrounds with roughly 1.52 million campsites. Supply grows at just ~1% annually — only 5% of park operators plan to open a new park, and typical expansions add a median of just 8 sites. Meanwhile, 11.2 million U.S. households own an RV (a record), with another 5.7 million expected to acquire one within five years. In 2024, 56% of campers struggled to find available campsites due to full bookings.
RV shipments have stabilized at 342,220 units in 2025 (up 2.5% year-over-year) after the dramatic boom-bust cycle that peaked at 600,240 units in 2021 and troughed at 313,174 in 2023. The 2026 forecast calls for a median of 349,300 units, with long-term expectations of 350,000–400,000 annually through the late 2020s.
Occupancy averages 60–70% with massive regional variation
National average annual occupancy for RV parks runs 60–70%, with ARVC benchmarking data showing 68% occupancy for full-hookup sites. Peak summer months approach 100% capacity at popular destinations, while Northeast and Midwest parks follow a bell-curve pattern with May-through-October main seasons and many closing in winter.
Among publicly traded operators, Sun Communities reported same-property blended MH/RV occupancy of 99.1% at year-end 2025, while Equity LifeStyle Properties maintained MH portfolio occupancy at 94%. However, both REITs experienced softness in transient RV revenue — ELS saw seasonal RV revenue decline 14.5% and transient RV decline 8.1% year-over-year in Q3 2025, while annual/long-term RV revenue grew 4.1%. This reflects a broader industry trend: conversion from transient to annual leases for revenue stability.
KOA reported flat system-wide occupancy in 2025 versus 2024, with a softer first half offset by stronger summer performance. Booking windows compressed significantly, with last-minute reservations up 30%+ at some networks — a behavioral shift that adds operational complexity.
Three demand mega-trends converge
The retirement wave sends 10,000 baby boomers past age 65 every day, creating sustained demand for long-stay RV sites and age-restricted resort communities. The remote work revolution has produced 18.5 million digital nomads in the U.S. (up 147% since 2019), with 22% of RV-owning households including a remote worker — and 54% of those having worked from an RV. Long-term stays of 28+ nights have nearly doubled since 2020. And younger generations are reshaping the market: Gen Z and Millennials now constitute 61% of all new campers, with Gen Z spending a remarkable $266 per day while camping (nearly double the Boomer rate of $134).
The glamping segment is growing fastest at 12.8% CAGR in the U.S. through 2030, with 34% of new campers in 2023 opting for glamping. Major hotel chains have entered: Hyatt partnered with Under Canvas across 13 locations, and Hilton integrated AutoCamp into its Honors program.
Revenue per pad: from $6,000 to $15,000+ annually
Revenue benchmarks vary enormously by region, park quality, and business model. Nightly rates range from $25–$55 in the Midwest to $60–$120 on the West Coast, with luxury resorts commanding $90–$150+ and Florida Keys waterfront properties exceeding $150. Monthly rates span $600–$900 for basic parks to $1,000–$1,400 at upscale resorts like Camp Landa in Texas.
ARVC benchmarking data reveals the median park (~90 sites) generates $3.52 million in total revenue, split roughly 41% from nightly site revenue ($1.43 million), 29% from monthly/seasonal rentals ($1.02 million), and 30% from ancillary sources (store, propane, rentals, activities). That translates to approximately $39,000 per site in gross revenue for a well-performing private park — though averages across all parks, including basic operations, run closer to $6,000–$10,000 per site annually.
Premium pull-through sites with full hookups command 15–30% rate premiums over standard back-in sites. Glamping units and cabins generate 2–3× the nightly rate of standard RV hookups. The most sophisticated operators target an optimal revenue mix of approximately 70% annual/seasonal leases (baseline income stability) plus 30% transient stays (higher per-night yield with flexibility).
Cap rates, valuations, and the financing landscape
RV parks trade at 7–10% cap rates with institutional compression at the top
The practical cap rate benchmark for stabilized RV parks in 2025–2026 sits at 8–10%, with prime destination resorts compressing to 6–7%. Parks and Places brokerage reported their 2024 average across 21 sold properties at a 9.3% cap rate with 8.8 months average time on market. Total MH and RV park sales in 2024 reached $346.7 million across 106 deals, a 12% increase year-over-year.
Acquisition pricing per site ranges from $10,000–$17,000 for basic rural campgrounds to $50,000–$62,000 for premium resort properties. The Streamside Parks/Blue Metric Group acquisition in February 2026 — $97 million for 7 premium resorts totaling 1,562 sites — established a benchmark of approximately $62,100 per site at the institutional quality tier. A 273-site Wisconsin RV resort traded at roughly $54,700 per site in 2024.
REIT performance provides institutional-grade benchmarks: Sun Communities delivered same-property NOI growth of 4.1% for full-year 2024, with rent per site increasing from $648 to $686 (5.9% year-over-year). ELS recorded Q4 2024 NOI of $180 million (up 5.9%) and has maintained a same-property NOI CAGR of 4.4% since 1998 — a remarkable two-decade track record of consistent income growth that underpins institutional interest in the sector.
Financing has tightened but options remain
SBA 7(a) loans remain the most accessible financing vehicle, with $90.4 million funded across 64 RV park businesses in 2025 at an average rate of 9.47%. Terms extend up to 25 years for real estate (fully amortizing, no balloon), with down payments of 10–30%. The June 2025 rule change requires a minimum 5% cash from the buyer, with seller notes covering an additional 5% on full standby.
USDA Business & Industry guaranteed loans offer up to $25 million per borrower for rural locations (under 50,000 population), with an 80% government guarantee and terms up to 40 years. The 3% initial guarantee fee plus 0.55% annual retention fee add cost, but the loan size and favorable terms make USDA B&I attractive for larger rural projects.
Conventional commercial loans require 20–30% down payments at 7–8% interest with 5–10 year terms and 20–25 year amortization schedules, creating balloon refinancing risk that SBA loans avoid. Seller financing is making a comeback in 2025–2026 as elevated conventional rates create bid-ask gaps between buyers and sellers.
Institutional capital continues flowing in at scale. RREAF Holdings committed $157 million initially for 5 parks (with $550 million in additional acquisitions planned). Roberts Resorts invested approximately $80 million into ~2,800–3,000 new sites across five states. The industry's extreme fragmentation — 90% of parks owned by operators with fewer than 5 properties — creates massive consolidation runway.
Greenfield development versus buying existing parks
The acquisition-versus-build decision defines RV park investment strategy, and in 2026, acquisition is strongly preferred by most investors and operators. The reasons are straightforward: existing parks generate cash flow from Day 1, carry established customer bases and online reviews, and are easier to finance. New development was "virtually unheard of until around 2015" and remains limited by zoning barriers, construction costs, and the 2–5 year timeline to stabilization.
The financial comparison crystallizes the difference. A greenfield project at $30,000–$40,000 per site (excluding land) requires 12–36 months of pre-revenue spending before generating a single dollar, then another 1–3 years of lease-up to stabilize. An acquisition at $30,000–$55,000 per site delivers immediate income, with value-add investors targeting going-in cap rates of 8–12% and improving to 7–9% through operational enhancements, rate increases, and amenity additions.
The development feasibility test is simple: if stabilized value (NOI divided by market cap rate) doesn't meaningfully exceed total development cost, the project fails. A park generating $200,000 in NOI at an 8–10% cap rate is worth $2–$2.5 million — if development cost exceeds that figure, acquisition wins. The industry's target cash-on-cash return of 20% is achievable through both paths, but acquisition reaches it faster and with less risk.
Industry veteran Jayne Cohen of Campground Consulting Group, with 40 years of experience, summarizes: "Building a campground isn't just difficult; it's a marathon of details, decisions, and dollars." The most successful value-add strategy in the current market involves buying underperforming mom-and-pop parks (which represent 78% of the ~15,000 U.S. parks) and implementing professional management, rate optimization, amenity upgrades, and digital marketing.
Real projects reveal real numbers
Recent development projects provide ground-truth calibration for industry benchmarks. Splash RV Resort in East Milton, Florida, invested $20 million for 351 RV sites plus cottages and a water park on 62 acres, implying roughly $57,000 per site — consistent with the luxury resort tier when amortizing water slides, lazy rivers, and extensive recreation facilities. Roberts Resorts' Houston-area expansion deployed $43 million across four properties adding approximately 415 new sites at roughly $103,600 per new site, though these figures include substantial shared amenity investments (waterparks, lazy rivers, registration buildings) alongside basic pad development.
KOA estimates its new campground builds at $3.9–$6.8 million (excluding land) for a minimum of 75 RV sites and 90 total sites. At 90 sites, that implies roughly $43,000–$75,000 per site for the full-service KOA experience with franchise-standard amenities. Magnolia Trace RV Resort in Natchez, Mississippi, broke ground in April 2024 with a $30 million total investment on 275+ acres for a luxury resort with a lazy river, clubhouse, and cabins — though specific site counts haven't been disclosed, the scale suggests a premium per-site figure.
The Provident Realty Roaming Trails developments in Texas — 196 pads in Burleson, 215 in San Antonio, and more in Killeen — represent the emerging "luxury long-term RV community" model with gated entry, concrete pads and roads, 50-amp service, fiber internet, resort pools, and individually privacy-fenced sites. While total costs haven't been publicly disclosed, the development specifications place these firmly in the $40,000–$60,000+ per-site tier.
Looking forward, the pipeline tracked by Woodall's Campground Magazine shows 90 new campgrounds and 18,000+ new campsites expected online between 2023 and 2027, with 2024–2026 specifically bringing 31 new campgrounds with 4,146 new RV sites plus 1,570 expansion sites at existing parks.
Conclusion: the per-pad calculus in 2026
RV park development economics in 2026 reward precision and penalize generalization. The headline $30,000–$40,000 per-site benchmark for quality development holds as a reliable national midpoint, but actual outcomes depend on a cascade of local variables — sewer infrastructure decisions alone can swing costs by $500,000 or more per project, and permitting timelines vary from months in rural Texas to years in coastal California.
Three structural forces shape the investment landscape going forward. First, supply constraint is the sector's defining feature — 1% annual growth against steadily rising demand creates persistent pricing power for well-positioned operators, particularly in high-barrier-to-entry markets. Second, construction cost inflation of 5–8% annually (amplified by tariff policy) steadily raises the bar for new development, making existing parks relatively more valuable each year. Third, demographic convergence — retiring boomers, remote-working millennials, and experience-seeking Gen Z — ensures demand durability across economic cycles.
The most actionable insight for developers and investors: the gap between stabilized park values and development costs is narrowing in most markets, making value-add acquisition the risk-adjusted optimal strategy for most operators in 2026. Greenfield development still pencils in low-cost, high-demand markets (Texas Hill Country, Gulf Coast, Tennessee Smokies corridor) where land runs under $5,000/acre and permitting timelines stay under 12 months. But the era of easy-money development returns ended with 2021's ultra-low rates. Today's winning projects require disciplined underwriting, locked material pricing, and the operational expertise to convert pads into revenue — because in outdoor hospitality, the pad is just the platform. The business is built on what happens after the guest pulls in.
Sources:
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service — Land Values 2025 Summary (August 2025)
Newmark Group — RV Park & Campground Investment Analysis (2024–2025 dataset, 62 parks / 10,682 sites)
ARVC (National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds) — Outdoor Hospitality Industry Benchmarking Report
Mortenson Construction — Cost Index Q3 2025
RVIA (RV Industry Association) — Annual Shipment Data & Consumer Demographic Survey 2025
KOA (Kampgrounds of America) — North American Camping & Outdoor Hospitality Report 2024
Staves Consulting — RV Park Development Cost Frameworks
Wert-Berater Hospitality Advisors — Feasibility & Market Study Standards
Outdoor Hospitality Weekly — Developer Cost Breakdowns & Project Tracking
RoverPass — RV Park Construction & Infrastructure Cost Guide 2025
Sun Communities (SUI) & Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) — SEC Filings & Investor Presentations
U.S. Small Business Administration — 7(a) & 504 Loan Program Guidelines
USDA Rural Development — Business & Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program
Streamside Parks / RREAF Holdings — Portfolio Transaction Data (February 2026)
Splash RV Resort, Roberts Resorts, Provident Realty Advisors — Project Announcements & Development Disclosures
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