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Trumark Homes and Resmark Land and Housing, a division of The Resmark Companies, closed on a nine-acre, 134-unit residential development project named "Contour" for approximately $18.5 million. 

Trumark Homes is scheduled to break ground on the project later this year.

The neighborhood will consist of medium-density single-family detached homes and higher-density multifamily townhouse for sale. The 134-home community will be connected to the Citywide Trail System through an extensive internal pedestrian networking linking front doors to common amenities.

Construction of the 134 residences will be split into 42 three-story detached single-family homes and 92 three-story attached townhomes. 

Trumark purchased the property from Mission West Properties, a local REIT in Silicon Valley.  

Reported by HousingZone (07/23/2012)

Standard Pacific Homes will build 231 to 238 new homes at the Tustin Legacy project, a massive redevelopment on the former Marine Corps air base in this Southern California city.

A dozen builders had applied to be the first to build for-sale homes on the 51-acre parcel. The Irvine Co. and St. Anton Partners already had been chosen to build apartments.

Builders have been clamoring to be part of the Tustin Legacy ever since the city took the project over from a contractor that withdrew after calling the project worthless. The city took over the job of selecting builders to develop the 820-acre Tustin Legacy project in about 13 phases.

Assistant City Manager Christine Shingleton said Standard Pacific was picked from three finalists because the firm is willing to build all the infrastructure, will help form a special district to raise money for the infrastructure for the entire project and because it’s going to pay cash. Not borrowing money will eliminate contingencies and speed the project along, she said.

Brookfield Homes and The New Home Co. were the other two finalists.

“They’re a great builder and everyone’s very excited about it,” Shingleton said of Standard Pacific Homes, which builds homes in seven states.

Ted McKibbin, president of Standard Pacific’s Southern California Coastal Division, said his firm “lasered in on it from the beginning as something we wanted to participate in.”McKibbin said the builder will create new designs for the three or four product lines it plans for the project. Most of he new homes will be single-family, detached houses, and a smaller number will be attached, “carriage house” style homes. The development also will include about eight acres of parks.

The city council decision gives Standard Pacific exclusive rights to negotiate the final contract to purchase and develop “Parcel 1B.” Shingleton declined to state how much Standard Pacific is willing to pay for the land, saying only that the city will get the market price.

Negotiations are expected to take five to six months, Shingleton said. The council will approve zoning changes at the same time, so the builder can start construction as soon as the deal is in place.

Construction will begin as soon as the extension of Tustin Ranch Road is finished, which is expected to occur in mid-2013, the city said.

Shea Homes, the city’s former master developer, backed out in 2010, saying that the cost of installing roads, utilities and other infrastructure rendered the project “worthless.” The city called that assessment nonsense and took over as Tustin Legacy’s master developer.

The Irvine Co. was picked on June 19 to enter exclusive negotiations to build up to 744 apartment units on two parcels, one with about 20 acres and the other with about 7.5 acres, Shingleton said. The Irvine Co. since assigned the 7.5 acre parcel, with up to 211 apartments, to St. Anton Partners.

Reported by Orange County Register (07/19/2012)

Nationwide housing production rose by 6.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 760,000 units in June, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the fastest pace of new-home construction since October of 2008.

“This good report is in keeping with the results of our latest builder confidence survey, in which many of our members said that they are seeing an influx of more serious buyers to the new-homes market this summer,” observed Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “What’s especially encouraging is that, as consumers realize the advantages of purchasing a newly built home while prices and interest rates are so favorable, builders are able to put more crews back to work on construction sites across the country. This in turn is helping spur local economic growth, and policymakers need to be very careful to not take any steps that would derail the beginnings of such a positive trend at this crucial time.”

“This is one more piece of evidence that housing is starting to take back its traditional role of leading the nation out of recession, and tracks with our forecast for continued improvement in new construction through the end of this year,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “While many challenges continue to weigh down the housing recovery – including those related to builders’ and buyers’ access to credit, poor appraisals and the number of distressed properties in certain markets – production of single-family homes is now the strongest it has been since 2010 due to rising consumer demand brought on by improving market conditions."

Single-family housing starts rose for a fourth consecutive month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000 units in June, their fastest pace since April of 2010. Meanwhile, multifamily starts rose 12.8 percent to 221,000 units, in keeping with the solid pace of demand for rental units.

Regionally, combined single-and multi-family housing starts rose 22.2 percent in the Northeast and 36.9 percent in the West, but fell back 7.3 percent in the Midwest and 4.2 percent in the South in June. However, the declines were entirely due to monthly volatility on the multifamily side, as single-family starts posted gains across every region in June.

Issuance of new building permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, fell 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 755,000 units in June following a large increase in the previous month. While single-family permitting posted a marginal, 0.6 percent gain to 493,000 units, multifamily permitting fell back 10.9 percent to 262,000 units from an above-trend pace in the previous month.

On a regional basis, permit issuance rose 2.9 percent in the West and held unchanged in the Northeast, but retreated 0.8 percent in the Midwest and 8 percent in the South in June.

Forty percent of single-family home builders report plans to hire or contract skilled laborers during the next year, according to a national survey conducted on behalf of the Home Builders Institute (HBI) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Builders’ hiring plans support the growth expected in the housing market through 2012. Plans to hire vary by region, with 46 percent of builders in the Midwest and West expecting to hire, 39 percent in the South and 29 percent in the Northeast.

“The findings are another positive indicator for the recovery of the housing market and economy overall,” said John Courson, president and CEO of the Home Builders Institute. “Our focus continues to be training workers now for these future jobs to ensure that shortages don’t occur as home building accelerates.”

The training level of workers was found to be a worry for home builders, with 62 percent having concerns about workers they want to hire needing training before they are ready to begin their work.

“It is critical that workers are trained and job-ready for expected hires, which is reinforced by the survey finding that having a certification or skilled trades training is a deciding factor for more than 40 percent of builders,” explained Courson. “Workers would be wise to be up-to-date on the latest building skills requirements by connecting with trainings and certification opportunities in their area.”

The survey also found that certain trades are in highest demand from builders, due to skills shortages. Shortages of more than 20 percent were reported for trades including painters, bricklayers/masons, finished carpenters, rough carpenters, and framing crews directly employed by home-building companies.

HBI provides training and certifications for skilled trades with its curricula based on National Construction Skills Standards developed with NAHB that are established by home builders from across the country.

These specific questions about labor availability were asked during the latest survey for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index of single-family home builders.

Reported by Housing Zone (07/10/2012)

Lennar recently announced that they have purchased an expansive 40-acre residential parcel of land in San Jose, located in the Santa Teresa Transit Village (formerly Hitachi Campus), near Highway 85 and Cottle Road.  Lennar is committed to constantly seeking new opportunities to build new home communities and is thrilled to acquire land in one of the few remaining large master plan sites in the South Bay.

“We are bullish on the prospects for recovery and growth in the Bay Area in particular and are eager to purchase more land in this economy,” said Dale Billy, Division President.

The master planned community will consist of over 800 homes and will offer a variety of product types including single-family townhomes and flats designed specifically to meet the needs of the most discerning buyers and suit all types of lifestyles. A main street park, pedestrian paths and greenbelt will further add to the appeal of the community and a convenient location close to public transportation is an additional benefit.

In addition to the residential portion, the Santa Teresa Village will also soon be home to a brand new retail complex, the Village Oaks center, which is anticipated to total 320,000 square feet. Target will be the main store along with a major supermarket. A health club, restaurants and banking are also expected to join the center.

Lennar is continually growing and providing their customers with several choices in new home styles. Lennar has grown to become one of the nation’s leading and most respected homebuilders. And is proud to be the first homebuilder to offer multi-generational homes with their revolutionary Next Gen – the home within a home floorplan, available at many communities nationwide. With hundreds of communities being built across 18 different states, Lennar is responsible for crafting innovatively designed new homes that can be found in many of the most desirable locations.

“The future of Lennar is really exciting,” said Billy. “We are constantly keeping our finger on the pulse of new trends in homebuilding – from building environmentally-friendly homes and multi-generational homes to new and exciting sales and marketing initiatives, we are taking the company to the next level of innovation in homebuilding and providing homebuyers with even more choices and outlets than ever before.”

Built on the premise that excellent homes are reliant on quality, value and integrity, Lennar follows these same principles today, one home at a time. Lennar continues to distinguish themselves by offering a variety of distinctive homes with upgraded features included – that is the standard homebuyers have trusted in Lennar for over 55 years.

Lincoln Property Company has beefed up its staff, adding new employees in property management, marketing and compliance in what has proven to be another active month of personnel moves in the housing market.  Celeste Villanueva and Emily Ferrer join the firm as property managers in the Chicago market.  Villanueva moves from John Buck Co. while Ferrer comes to Lincoln from Bozzuto Group.  Odessa Patterson is the new Compliance Manager in Lincoln’s Atlanta office and Kristina McClendon joins the Orlando office of Lincoln as Marketing Coordinator. 

Lennar Homes saw another active month in June with Jim Bowersox joining the company as the new VP of Land Acquisitions & Development in Atlanta.  He served a similar role with Beazer Homes. Charles Curtis joins Lennar in the San Francisco Bay Area as the new Director of Purchasing.  He was previously a Purchasing Manager for a solar company.  And Jack Cooper joins Lennar in Austin, Texas, as Construction Manager.

K. Hovnanian, Beazer, Ashton Woods and Brookfield Homes also made multiple personnel hires.  Maureen Volzer is a new Sales Consultant for Hovnanian in Folsom, Calif.  She was previously a Sales Manager at Toll Brothrs.  Robert Martin joins the Brick, N.J., office of K. Hov. as Estimator.  He was a Sr. Purchasing Manager at Lennar.  Ashley Martin joins Beazer as New Home Counselor in Indianapolis, moving from Pulte.  Casey Knasel is now Payroll Manager at Beazer in Atlanta.  Bill Adams joins Ashton Woods as Construction Manager in Cypress, Texas, and  Todd Nichols is now Area Construction Manager for Ashton Woods in Atlanta, where he previously served as Centralized Schedule Manager.  At Brookfield Homes Monika Rothenburger is the new Contracts Administrator in Newport Beach, Calif., while Vince Cuccarese is now Internet Sales Manager for the company in San Diego.

Jed Solomon moves to Pulte Group as Land Acquisitions Manager in Raleigh-Durham.  He previously served a similar role with K. Hovnanian.  Michael Gorny is the new Director of Executive Compensation for Pulte in Detroit.  He was Director of HR for Taubman Co.  Toll Brothers made several appointments on the construction side with Carmelo Longo named Construction Manager in Hartford, Conn.  He comes to the company from Ginsburg Development.  Chris Bowman is now Field Representative for Toll in San Marcos, Calif., and Sandi Waite is the new Customer Service Liaison in Philadelphia.

In other moves around the country:

David Kemnitz moves to KB Home in Los Angeles as a Land Search Specialist, previously serving as a Land Consultant for Brookfield Homes.

David Smith is now Construction Manager for Chesmar Homes in Houston.  He previously ran his own construction firm.

Sean McQueen joins David Weekley Homes a Construction Manager in Brookshire, Texas.  He served in a similar role at Greeneco Builders.

John Boyenga is now Construction Manager at Gehan Homes in Cypress, Texas.  He was previously VP of Operations with Signorelli Co.

Hollie Kleitz joins Gables Residential in Atlanta as a Director.  She was a VP with Trimont Real Estate Advisors.

Richmond American Homes nabbed Justin Brewer as a Land Acquisitions Specialist in Escondido, Calif.  He was previously with KB Home.

Brandon Brooks is now Community Representative at Drees Homes in Waco, Texas.

Heather Jaxheimer is now New Home Counselor at Ryland Homes, previously serving in a similar position at Ashton Woods Homes. 

Michael Welty is now Regional Sales Manager at Oakwood Homes in Johnstown, Colo., where he was previously a Community Manager.

Dan Rice is the new Director of Sales & Marketing at Rausch Coleman in Tulsa.  He moves to the company from Windstream Communications.

Irvine Company has hired Tumy Tran as Senior Recruiter in Orange County, while Kelly Twohey joins the firm in San Diego as a Leasing Consultant.

Trammell Crow Co. has named Joseph Achenbach a Senior Associate in its Philadelphia office.  The company also has appointed Charlie James a Project Manager in Dallas.

Stacey Craig is the new Controller for Woodside Homes in Arizona and Nevada.

Reported by PBP (07/03/2012)