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Daily Real Estate News | June 1, 2009 |
Lennar Seeks to Regain Bankrupt Development
Homebuilder Lennar Corp. wants a piece of the bankrupt 21,000-home Newhall Ranch project on a 15,000-acre key tract north of Los Angeles.
Lennar, a former co-owner of the project, sold most of its 50-percent share at the peak of the real estate market for $660 million. Now it would like to buy back a 15 percent share for $140 million.
The plan, which must be approved by the bankruptcy court, will wipe out the investment of the California Public Employees Retirement System and a group of investment partners, which together paid $970 million for a majority stake in 2007.
The deal would give Lennar control of more than 3,500 home sites and 5 million square feet of industrial and commercial space in various stages of construction, not only in the Newhall Ranch project, but also in other areas of California, Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and New Jersey, according to court documents.
Robert Stevenson, an analyst with investment banker Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller LLC, says the Newhall Ranch project is important to Lennar's strategy of maintaining a firm foothold in the key Southern California market, especially as the region's housing industry recovers.
Source: The Associated Press, Jacob Adelman (05/30/2009)
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