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6/20/12
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In a very positive sign for the SoCal housing industry, national homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc has acquired a 50% interest in a 387-acre planned res community in the southern OC city of Lake Forest. The property was sold by Baker Ranch Properties and is expected to provide roughly 1,800 new homes and 400 apartment units when fully built out.
The land is part of a huge, 5,000+-acre purchase by the V.P. Baker and A.J. West families in the late 1950s and is an area of Orange County that accounts for much of the city of Lake Forest. Although the price for the land was not disclosed, a piece in the LA Times estimates that it most likely exceeded $100 mil. It is said to be one of the largest residential land sales in the state of California in the past five years.
The transaction was brokered on behalf of the seller by Province West. According to Province West principal, Daniel McDonough, the Baker Family and their partners, together with Shea Homes, worked for more than a decade to design and secure entitlements for this upscale community. McDonough noted that residential land opportunities of this magnitude rarely come to market in Orange County, where a majority of the future planned single family housing inventory is controlled by The Irvine Company, Rancho Mission Viejo Company, and Five Points.
The Orange County land market has continued to strengthen in recent years and remains an area of increased emphasis for the nation’s leading public and private homebuilders. Since 2011, homebuilders have optioned or closed property planned in Orange County for just over 3,000 homes within nearly 40 future communities. Improving housing fundamentals, coupled with inadequate supply is causing homebuilders to evaluate opportunities much more aggressively than in previous years, resulting in rising land prices.
The Irvine Company recently had a very strong response from homebuilders to the release of four new neighborhoods planned for just over 300 homes at Portola Springs in Irvine. Five Points is also making preparations for the release of up to 10 new neighborhoods planned for 694 homes at the Great Park Neighborhoods.
Over the years, portions of the Baker and West families’ 5,000 acres were sold and eventually developed into what is now known as the City of Lake Forest. In 1999, Baker Ranch was placed into a joint venture with Shea Properties to develop the property into a commercial business park. However, upon the closure of El Toro Marine Air Base, the process was initiated to convert the property into a master planned residential community.
Baker Ranch is located adjacent to the Foothill Transportation Corridor (241 Toll Road), bounded by the Great Park open space and Bake Parkway and bisected by Alton Pkwy. The Baker interests were formerly involved in a joint venture with Shea Homes, who retained its ownership interest in the property. The new entity, owned by Shea Homes and Toll Brothers will continue to pursue development of the community, where grading could begin in the fall of 2012, with model grand openings are planned for early 2014.
Baker Ranch is segmented into 21 residential neighborhoods within three villages and a variety of amenities including public parks, private recreation clubs, trails and bike paths, and open space.
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