Standard Pacific buys 46 acres in McKinney

Standard Pacific buys 46 acres

The builder is starting a 485-home single-family development in McKinney

Premium content from Dallas Business Journal by Candace Carlisle, Staff Writer

Date: Friday, December 30, 2011

Standard Pacific Homes, a subsidiary of Standard Pacific Corp.(NYSE: SPF), has acquired 46 acres of land to kick-start Stone Hollow, a 485-home single-family development in McKinney.

The California-based home builder acquired 41 acres from a private seller and 5 acres from the City of McKinney for an undisclosed sum.

The parcels near Alma Road and Silverado Trail bring the total development size to 129 acres.

“We’ve been active in the area and we’ve identified this as a prime location,” said Chris Matzke, Dallas-Fort Worth division president of Standard Pacific Homes. “This area in the Metroplex fit in with our market strategy catering to the move-up buyer.”

Stone Hollow is less than two miles from State Highway 121. It is near a city-owned tennis facility that’s under construction and Frisco ISD’s Comstock Elementary School.

Standard Homes has begun the ground work for the first phase of about 110 single-family home lots, which are scheduled for completion by summer 2012.

The home builder could begin construction when the lots are complete and will build to suit demand, Matzke said.

The development’s second phase of 70 single-family home lots is scheduled for completion by the end of the 2012.

The rest of Stone Hollow will be built in multiple phases over five years.

During the entire development process, Standard Pacific will conduct an open bidding process to hire subcontractors and vendors, Matzke said. The home builder has other single-family projects in Allen, Frisco and Trophy Club.

“We are out there for open bidding for all sites,” he said.

Shortage of space, financing

The acquisition was one of the last pieces of land in McKinney suitable for a significant single-family development, said Ted Wilson, principal at Dallas-based Residential Strategies Inc. Wilson helped Standard Pacific identify the site.

“They are hitting the market at a good time with a product that is needed,” Wilson said.

“The homes are right in the sweet spot for the McKinney market and they have hit a price that is difficult for other builders who don’t develop their own lots to hit.”

Standard Pacific will market the homes from $200,000 to $500,000.

Other home builders have smaller projects in the area, such as Beazer Homes, which recently broke ground on Fairway Meadows, Wilson said.

There haven’t been as many land deals recently as home builders struggle to find financing to acquire land, said Andrew Prine of The Stratford Group.

Prine, along with Republic Property Group, worked with Standard Pacific in the land acquisition.

“Standard Pacific is one of the few home builders that can get a land purchase approved right now, and I believe they are positioning themselves well for the next three to five years,” Prine said.