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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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Lennar’s Local Boss Leaves Homebuilder

Rich Knowland, the Lennar Corp. regional vice president who oversaw the homebuilder’s massive Orange County operations, has left the company.

Knowland announced his departure about a week ago. He is said to be joining another real estate business, though details weren’t known last week.

The departure was amicable, according to Lennar.

“Rich wanted to work more on his own, in a more independent role,” said Emile Haddad, chief investment officer for the Miami-based company.

Lennar has yet to name a replacement for Knowland. The homebuilder runs day-to-day operations out of its Aliso Viejo office under Chief Operating Officer Jon Jaffe and Haddad.

“We have a large number of very capable people here in Orange County” who could fill the position, Haddad said.

Knowland’s departure comes at a busy time for Lennar, which now is the county’s largest homebuilder. Like others, the company is wrestling with the housing slowdown. It continues building and planning homes in Irvine and Anaheim.

Lennar sold 443 homes here last year, primarily at suburban projects in Irvine and the former Tustin Marine base.

In all, Lennar plans more than 15,000 homes in OC in the next decade or so, including high-rise condominiums in Anaheim and about 9,500 homes at the former El Toro Marine base in Irvine.

The company is working with Irvine city officials to add more than 5,800 homes to its original Heritage Fields plans at El Toro, while cutting back stores and industrial space by 30% to 3.7 million square feet.

Elsewhere in the county, initial ground work continues in Anaheim, where Lennar plans about 3,000 homes and commercial space at the city’s Platinum Triangle project near Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Near John Wayne Airport in Irvine, homes are starting to go up at the company’s Central Park West mixed-use development. About 1,400 homes are being built at the 43-acre site, including a pair of 14-story condo towers.

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Mark Mueller
Mark Mueller
Mark is the Editor-in-Chief of the Orange County Business Journal, one of the premier regional business newspapers in the country. He’s the fifth person to hold the editor’s position in the paper’s long history. He oversees a staff of about 15 people. The OCBJ is considered a must-read for area business executives. The print edition of the paper is the primary source of local news for most of the Business Journal’s subscribers, which includes most of OC’s major corporate and community players. Mark’s been with the paper since 2005, and long served as the real estate reporter for the paper, breaking hundreds of commercial and residential real estate stories. He took on the editor’s position in 2018.
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