Newport Beach-based homebuilder City Ventures Inc. has launched a luxury home division that will focus on some of the company’s premier land locations in California, including a project it has in the works next to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point.
The builder recently rolled out its Insignia by City Ventures product line, which will aim to provide a higher level of customization for some of the privately held company’s pricier home offerings along the coast.
Personal design studios and design concierges, art consultants, and a lengthy list of potential upgrades will be offered under the Insignia line, giving homebuyers the opportunity to add personal preferences to their residences as soon as the drywall is installed.
Insignia is now expected to be rolled out at seven development sites that total more than 400 homes spread over Pasadena, Glendora, Encinitas, Moorpark, Alhambra, Carlsbad and Dana Point, where grading work is under way for a 37-home project called The Grand Monarch.
Homes at the Grand Monarch are expected to be priced near $3 million and should start selling in mid-2014, according to Mark Buckland, City Ventures’ chief executive.
The Dana Point project is expected to be one of the more expensive offerings for Insignia. City Ventures bought the nearly seven acres for the development—immediately south of the main grounds of the upscale St. Regis hotel—early this year.
Homes are slated to run as large as 3,852 square feet, and owners will have access to the St. Regis’ amenities, as well as the private Monarch Bay Beach Club.
All told, the homes new slated to fall under the Insignia line are expected to sell for about $650 million and should represent about 30% of the company’s revenues during the sales life of the developments.
The first project for Insignia—the Ambassador Gardens in Pasadena—began sales a few weeks ago. The 136-home project, about two blocks from the heart of Old Town Pasadena, has homes starting at about $1.2 million.
Insignia said it has aligned itself with local art historians and galleries throughout Southern California to help buyers in Pasadena decorate their homes with original art to go with other custom options.
“Every aspect of the home, from the plumbing fixtures to the art on the wall, should make a statement,” said Herb Gardner, president of City Ventures.
Buckland, a former executive of Seal Beach-based builder Olson Co. who co-founded City Ventures in 2009, likens Insignia to the luxury division of now-defunct John Laing Homes, which started in 2002 and had success building in Crystal Cove and other high-end coastal developments during the last housing boom.
The upgrades being offered for Insignia are expected, on average, to add between 10% and 20% to a home’s base price, according to Buckland. But he said those costs are actually much lower than what a buyer would see if he or she built a completely custom-designed home.
“They’re getting good value,” Buckland said. “When you go from production (homes) to custom, prices can really shoot up.”
City Ventures is scouting other locations for land buys that could fall under the Insignia line, but the company said it plans to remain focused on deals in California.
Over the past four years, the company has amassed land holdings across California that could support close to 14,000 homes.
City Ventures has gained a reputation since its formation for being an aggressive land buyer that’s willing to take on more entitlement risk—particularly for infill locations—than more traditional builders.
Other projects it has in the works in Orange County include locations in Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Fullerton and Buena Park.
In June, the company filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $150 million in an initial public offering, but the company hasn’t gone public yet.
Officials for the company last week declined to discuss the status of the proposed IPO, citing quiet-period restrictions.
