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Home builders see fresh opportunities in the market: A roundtable discussion
Posted by Admin on December 13, 2009
Herald-Tribune Real Estate Editor Harold Bubil speaks with Tom Dabney, developer of The Forest at Hi Hat Ranch, and Forest homebuilders John Cannon of John Cannon Homes, Roy Dupuis of Anchor Builders, and Albert Sanchez of Gibraltar Homes about the state of local home building and the decision to restart the development’s marketing effort. Joining in is Brian Wood of Signature Sotheby’s, the onsite sales agent. The Forest at Hi Hat Ranch, featured in the Herald-Tribune’s Dec. 13, 2009, Real Estate section, has 54 home sites on 270 acres, with each site ranging in size from 3.0 to 5.6 acres. Lot prices range from $190,000 to $450,000, and home-lot packages start in the $700,000s. Eleven of the sites have been sold, and nine houses built. The Forest at Hi Hat Ranch is off Clark Road, five miles east of Interstate 75, in Sarasota County. The new builders, Anchor and Gibraltar, replace original builders Lee Wetherington Homes and Arthur Rutenberg Homes/M. Pete McNabb. Harold Bubil: What was behind the decision to bring in new builders and jump-start the development? Tom Dabney: We were moving along really well in November 2006 at the time we had our grand opening. We had a phenomenal turnout for the two-day event. We were selling briskly, and then it just came. That market slowdown hit, and it didn’t just slow, it stopped. Meeting with Roy and Albert and John Cannon, we... [Read more]