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Maverick Homebuilder Osgood Parts With Centex Homes

Maverick Homebuilder Osgood Parts With Centex Homes

By NIDAL M. IBRAHIM

Roland Osgood, who helped start Centex Corp.’s Orange County operation and build it into one of the most profitable divisions in the company, has left the Dallas-based homebuilder.

Richard Douglas, Osgood’s longtime vice president of land development, takes over the top spot of the company’s Centex Homes South Coast division.

Both sides described the parting as amicable, with Osgood joking that he’s “working on his tan.”

Still, the unexpected departure of one of the more highly visible homebuilding executives in the county has left many in the industry questioning the circumstances under which Osgood left.

Both Osgood and Centex Homes officials deny that he was forced out.

Osgood said he wanted to retire and spend more time with his family. A motivating factor was to help his wife in her eight-year bout with breast cancer, which had been in remission, he said.

At the same time, Osgood said that he plans eventually to get back into homebuilding.

“I’m absolutely going to do that,” said the 63-year-old. “I’m too young-hearted not to. I’ve had a lot of phone calls. (But) I’m enjoying my life and children and having lunch everyday with them.”

Some industry observers speculate that Osgood’s departure may have something to do with his perceived maverick operating style. That might have been accepted and even welcomed in the past, observers say, but it’s out of step with today’s OC homebuilding scene, where a button-down corporate culture exits.

This is just one of the many changes brought on by the large, national homebuilders, which used Wall Street funding to buy out the local entrepreneurs that long dominated OC real estate.

“Roland doesn’t fit in a box,” said one industry observer. “Roland does what he likes.”

Still, what made Osgood an attractive candidate for top jobs in the past will continue to make him a sought-after name, the source said. Namely, he added, large homebuilders looking to enter the OC and Southern California markets would find him attractive because of his longstanding ties with the handful of landowners that still dictate which companies become major local players.

That’s the pattern established first with KB Home, when he helped the Los Angeles-based homebuilder (then called Kaufman and Broad Home) establish its OC operations and build it into one of the bigger players locally.

“He’s pretty well connected in the (real estate) crowd, so they’ve used him to get the divisions built up and then they get to a point where they don’t want to put up with him doing his own thing,” the source said.

“Orange County is one of those markets that’s not easy to get into. He’s got relationships here that go way back so he can get someone into this market pretty quickly,” the source said.

Centex Homes’ regional operations sold roughly 650 homes with revenue of about $271 million in the 12 months ended March 31, Douglas said. (The division encompasses OC, a big part of the western Inland Empire and the southern part of Los Angeles County.)

Centex Homes was the No. 5 homebuilder in OC with 465 homes sold last year, according to the Business Journal’s ranking of top residential builders.

Douglas, who’s held top jobs in the development of San Clemente’s Talega as well as with KB Home, said he recognizes the challenges ahead.

Douglas estimates the division will close roughly 500 units this year. Despite the drop in closings, he expects to exceed the $271 million in revenue generated in the past fiscal year.

“Hopefully, (the change) is good for Roland and yet I’m lucky in that we have an awesome team here,” Douglas said. “I’m the fortunate one because we have an awesome organization.”

Douglas said the challenges ahead are the same ones facing other homebuilders: land is in short supply, regulation and getting insurance for attached housing.

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