HOMES ON THE RANGE? PASTORAL TEJON RANCH COULD SEE FIRST HOUSING TRACTS.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

This home of cattle pastures and rolling hills may soon see its first strip malls and housing tracts.

The Tejon Ranch Co., owner of the 270,000-acre ranch that straddles the Los Angeles-Kern county line, announced Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent with three home builders to develop a 4,000-acre planned community on the southern end of the property.

The site would be near the intersection of Interstate 5 and Highway 138, within Los Angeles County.

``We think this is the next pioneering area for growth,'' said Robert A. Stine, president and chief executive officer of Tejon Ranch Co. ``We and the home builders think the prospects are excellent.''

Stine said Tejon and the three builders _ Pardee Construction Co., Lewis Investment Co. LLC, and W.L. Homes LLC _ have not decided how many homes would be built on the 4,000-acre site. Actual groundbreaking is still two or three years away, he said.

Regardless of size, there could be some major hurdles for Tejon Ranch's first residential development.

Some of the project's biggest problems involve its relative isolation from existing metro areas and services, said Dave Vannatta, planning deputy for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes the Tejon Ranch.

``It's a completely different kind of a proposal from almost anything we've ever looked at,'' Vannatta said. ``They're basically starting from scratch.''

The county would be hard-pressed to extend services such as schools, fire and police protection and libraries to the area, he said.

``Those are going to have to be provided by somebody, and we told them it wasn't going to be the county,'' he said. ``It's going to have to be them.''

Stine, the Tejon Ranch Co. CEO, said the company is studying its options, including the possibility of incorporating the area as its own city.

But isolation from major urban areas may be part of the development's appeal, Stine said. And despite its rural character, the area is close to job markets in the Santa Clarita, Antelope, San Joaquin and San Fernando valleys, he said.

A large, master-planned community would be attractive for the area, said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit business booster organization.

But Kyser said road access during cold, snowy weather and the availability of services and jobs could be major issues.

``There's going to be a demand for housing,'' Kyser said. ``But the key questions will be access and where will the jobs for residents be?''

If completed, the project would be the first residential development in Tejon Ranch. But for the Tejon Ranch Co., the announcement Tuesday was just the latest in a string of accomplishments.

The company's recently built industrial center, the 350-acre Tejon Industrial Complex, moved in its first tenant last month. And the company recently signed an agreement with Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corp., a subsidiary of energy giant Enron Corp., to build a $500 million power plant on the property.

The company is also working toward a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, a move that would give it far broader exposure than its current listing on the American Stock Exchange.

After Tuesday's announcement, Tejon Ranch Co. stock rose $2.8125, or 11.2 percent, to $27.875 on trading of 30,900 shares, five times more than the 30-day average volume.

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Map: Proposed Tejon Ranch 4,000 acre community