The chief operating officer at Standard Pacific Corp. was named president of the Irvine-based homebuilder Wednesday, putting him on a path to potentially become chief executive.
Scott Stowell has served as Standard Pacific’s chief operating officer since 2007. He’ll continue to report to Chief Executive Ken Campbell.
Earlier, Stowell was president of Standard Pacific’s Orange County division.
Stowell played a big part in reviving the company from the lows of the housing crash, according to Campbell.
“His expertise was vital in transforming Standard Pacific from a company that some had counted out of the game to one of the frontrunners in the industry,” he said.
The housing downturn drove Standard Pacific to the brink of bankruptcy in 2008, when the company struck a $530 million financing deal with New York-based MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC.
Chief executive Campbell joined soon after from MatlinPatterson.
Campbell has led a dramatic turnaround of Standard Pacific but has said he’s not a homebuilder.
Tuesday’s promotion of Stowell makes him a candidate for the company’s top job down the road.
Standard has been one of the more aggressive buyers of land to build on.
It closed on $33.6 million worth of land buys in the fourth quarter and had approvals for another $45 million of land deals as of early February.
The company spent about $315 million on land buys for all of 2010.
