Thursday, March 30, 2006


Newhall Ranch Steams Ahead, Bubble Be Damned

Link To This Post.

The Daily News of Los Angeles has a ho-hum story about the performance of Lennar, the home-builder that purchased Newhall Land and Farming Co. a few years ago. If you view the story, ignore most of it, particularly the stupid blunders of fact, including the statement that Lennar built Stevenson Ranch. Lennar bought Newhall Land and Farming Co. after Stevenson Ranch was completed. (Somebody better start reading behind the interns.)

At the end of the story is an update on Newhall Ranch, which is on the LA-Ventura County line on the LA County side. The story says:
Newhall Land also is preparing the massive 21,000-home Newhall Ranch project for county review. The (Los Angeles) county Board of Supervisiors granted overall approval in 2003 for the development proposed between Interstate 5 and the Los Angeles-Ventura counties border. Lauffer dismissed the notion that the recent softening of new-home sales will impact development plans. "When you're building a master-plan community, you're looking at the big picture," she said. "We know demand continues to be strong. In terms of pace, that will vary at times, but there will continue to be a desire to live in communities like Valencia and our Newhall Ranch."
She's absolutely right. You're mistaken if you think big companies like Newhall Land, or its new owner Lennar, worry about fluctuations in the housing market. Newhall Ranch will take more than 25 years to build. Planning for it has taken about 15 years already, which means it began during the last housing crash in the early 1990s. By the time this project is done it will have weathered more than one crash.

— The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble