After a decade of waiting, a major housing development in the San Fernando Valley is finally ready to move forward – though not quite as large as initially envisioned. A joint venture of Foremost Communities Inc. in Newport Beach and Starwood Capital Group Global LP in Greenwich, Conn. has purchased Deerlake Ranch, a 230-acre hillside project just west of Porter Ranch. The project was originally entitled in 2004 for 374 homes by Presidio Chatsworth Partners but was opposed by community groups more interested in retaining the land as open space. By the time Presidio got the green light, the real estate market began to deteriorate and the development could never move forward. Foremost and Starwood, founded and operated by hospitality magnate Barry Sternlicht, acquired the property for an undisclosed price in October. Steve Cameron, president of Foremost, said he personally got involved in the property in 2010, assisting Presidio in obtaining entitlements. The new plans scale the project down to no more than 314 homes with 73 acres of open space. Cameron said it should take about two and a half years to get the land developed and all the building permits, at which point the lots will be sold off. “We’ll process all the plans through the city. Once the land is developed, we’ll sell it to three different home builders,” said Cameron, who declined to disclose acquisition costs or what the group may charge for the lots. Much like Porter Ranch, Deerlake will offer upscale housing. Two of the four communities will be private and equestrian-oriented with guarded gates. The homes will range from 3,000 to 4,600 square feet. Some homes will sit on half-acre equestrian lots. Prices are expected to range from $1.2 million to $1.7 million, making the project’s total value in the neighborhood of $500 million assuming the homes command the listed prices. Cameron expects demand for the project to be robust, as there is limited high-end property available, though Porter Ranch has not been completely built out. “I think there’s going to be huge demand as long as there is strong population and employment growth,” he said. “There’s not much buildable land left in L.A. County.” Undeveloped lots at Porter Ranch are owned by Toll Bros. in Horsham, Pa., which picked up the property in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Shapell Industries’ homebuilding business announced last November. At the time, Shapell’s land portfolio consisted of about 5,200 entitled homes, some of which are in Porter Ranch. Camarillo Construction Construction is underway on a 93,000-square-foot industrial building near the Camarillo airport. The project at 701 W. Ventura Blvd. is the only industrial building under construction in Ventura County, according to Paul Farry, senior vice president in the Camarillo office of CBRE Group Inc. It is being developed by Quattro Development of Oxnard, which envisions either one user or two splitting the square footage. “We’re talking to one serious prospective tenant who would take the whole building. We’d prefer to lease the building to just one tenant,” said Farry, adding the building will likely lease to either a distributor or manufacturer. Approved by Camarillo in late 2012, the building couldn’t come online quick enough for the market, which had a vacancy rate of 0.2 percent in the third quarter, according to the L.A. office of Colliers International. The building will feature eight truck-high loading docks, four grade- level doors, advanced sprinkler systems and 28-foot clearance. It is adjacent to the 101 Freeway and is expected to be completed in the spring. The developer was also represented by Doug Shaw and Jim Meaney, both first vice presidents at CBRE. Management Shuffle Mike Tingus has been named chairman of Lee & Associates LA North/Ventura. Tingus will be in charge of about 50 brokers across four offices: Oxnard, Sherman Oaks, Calabasas and Palmdale. Tingus joined the brokerage about 10 years ago, rising through the ranks. In addition, the company promoted John Battle, Grant Fulkerson and Jim Fisher to managing director, each of whom will run an office for the LA North/Ventura team. “When I took over in 2004, the company was decent,” said Tingus. “We’re stabilized now. We’ve gotten to the point where we’re very consistent. This really just shows the marketplace, clients and colleagues, that we believe in the broker-owned company.” The promotions will be effective Feb. 1. Staff Reporter Elliot Golan can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected].
