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A.F. Sterling Homes through its affiliate Scotia JV 2005, LLP (Randy Agron) of Tucson purchased in an REO sale from Bank of Oklahoma of Tulsa, OK 10 platted lots and two commercial pads at Tanque Verde Village located at Tanque Verde Road and Tanque Verde Village Place for[mepr-show rules=”58038″]$390,000 ($32,500 per lot). The gross area of the subdivision is 12.5 acres, includes 2.7 acres zoned RVC suitable for either residential or commercial development and 10 CR-1 zoned 36,000 sq. ft. SFR lots. The plat dates back to 2007 in the East Valley.

A.F. Sterling Homes has been a Tucson builder since 1987 and is locally owned and operated. The company has been named five times as Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) Builder of the Year, for its high standards, distinctive styling, strict attention to details, and amenities typically found only in custom homes.

Other A.F. Sterling communities include Tortolita Vistas in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains, Campos Adobes in Northwest Tucson, The Uplands in Oro Valley, and Ventana Reserve in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains that is now sold out. The company also has a Custom Division that builds luxury homes on the client’s own homesite in the Tucson area.

Dan Feig and Aaron Mendenhall of Chapman Lindsey in Tucson represented the bank and Robert Grant of Tierra Antigua represented the builder in the sale.

Feig at Chapman Lindsey can be reached at (520) 622-8864 ext 105 while Mendenhall at Chapman Lindsey is at (520) 622-8864 ext 102. Agron with A.F. Sterling can be contacted ay (520) 577-3600 and Grant at Tierra Antigua is at (520) 203-4910.[/mepr-show]

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Richmond American Homes of Arizona (Michael Del Castillo, Regional Vice-President), a wholly owned subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings of Delaware (NYSE:MDC), bought 40-lots at Oasis Hills II in Marana from Red Point Development (Daniel Leung, President) for[mepr-show rules=”58038″]$810,000 ($20,250 per lot). Located southeast of Camino De Manana and Oasis Road in Marana, the lots were platted and engineered at time of sale with an average lot size of 5,420 sq. ft.

Richmond will join builder, D.R. Horton, in this Northwest subdivision. D.R. Horton began building in June 2012 after buying 83-finished lots with an average lot size of 6,277 sq. ft. for $42,000 per lot.

M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Denver, Colorado. M.D.C. reports in their 2012 Annual SEC report:
“As a result of our strategic initiatives and a recovering housing market, we achieved full year profitability of $62.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, which represented four consecutive quarters of operating profits and more than a $160 million improvement in our net income over 2011. Our favorable results were largely attributable to better operating profits from our homebuilding segment, which experienced significant revenue growth as well as operating margin expansion. In addition, our financial services segment profit increased considerably as we took advantage of favorable mortgage market conditions, including higher volume and margins for our mortgage loan products.”

Presidio Engineering of Tucson (John Wood, President) provided the civil engineering services for preliminary and final plat preparation of the new 40-lot residential subdivision on 9.89 acres, zoned “F” in the Cascada Specific Plan and MDR (Medium Density Residential) in Marana. Engineering of the lots included mass grading plan, paving and sewer plan, water plan, a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and construction observation.

Dan Feig of Chapman Lindsey in Tucson represented the seller in the trasaction.

Del Castillo can be reached at (520) 229-5454. Leung is at (520) 408-2300. Feig can be contacted at (520) 747-4000.[/mepr-show]

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“Builders and the public are attracted to Rancho Sahuarita for the life-style,” according to Ted Herman, Director of Real Estate at Sharpe & Associates, “we make a big effort to make residents’ lives more fun and enjoyable with a wide variety of events.” This month an eclectic community event calendar shows a car and motorcyle show, a rodeo round up day, the 6th annual father/daughter dance, speakers on financial matters and an assortment of health and fitness classes for every member of the family. Something for everyone seems to be working well there.

On February 22, 2013 Richmond American Homes (NYSE: MDC) the home building subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings, closed on 24 finished lots, paying[mepr-show rules=”58038″]$792,000 ($33,000 per lot) for this final takedown at Presidio San Xavier. The seller, Rancho Bridge, LLC (Greg Anderson, principal) of Tucson purchased 48 lots from Pulte Homes last year and resold them to Richmond American in a two-part option agreement that began April, 2012. The lots were a mixture of 45′ x 100′ and 55′ x 100′ lots.

Dan Feig of Chapman Lindsey in Tucson represented the builder and seller in the option agreement.

In a separate transaction, Richmond American acquired an additional 77 finished lots at Presidio del Norte for $4.24 million ($55,000 per lot) from RSMC VI, LLC, an affiliate of Sharpe & Associates of Tucson (Bob Sharpe, CEO) in a cash purchase. The builder reports a completely new line of home models to be coming to these mostly 50′ x 110′ lots.

Herman reported building permits in Rancho Sahuarita are up by 80% over the past 12 months, and new home closings are up another 20% over the past 12 months. Including the 77 lots sold to Richmond American, there are 265 buildable lots in the hands of builders there, less than a 12 month inventory. Distress builders’ lots have also all been depleted, so with restricted supply and increased demand, there can subsequently be expected higher prices for both homes and land. Home foreclosures also declined by 41% from its 2010 all-time high, and distressed homes returned to lenders is down by 32% from this same period. These are all positive shifts in market perseptions that lend to an increased optimism for the future for housing in Rancho Sahuarita.

“Rancho Sahuarita’s building fees, if not the lowest in the area, are certainly very competitive,” Herman commented, “there are no impact fees as found in the City and County, another big advantage to builders in this award-winning community.” Builders such as Richmond American, Maracay Homes and DR Horton are currently building here.

In the early 1990′s, Bob Sharpe purchased an old cotton farm in a community known as Sahuarita, with the vision of creating a highly amenitized master planned community. Sharpe compiled a team to help form the Town of Sahuarita, and began the process of planning Rancho Sahuarita. This lead to a detailed development plan, which was the comprehensive guiding vision for what is now Rancho Sahuarita’s 5,100 homes, and expected to become 11,000 homes when complete.

For more information contact Ted Herman at (520) 299-8766. Dan Feig can be reached at (520) 747-4000. Bob Martin, VP Finance at Richmond American is at (720) 977-3431. Richmond American sales office can be contacted at (520) 594-6180.

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