NEWHALL LAND POSTS STRONG SECOND QUARTER.Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer Times are rosy for The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. , which reported record earnings and favorable activity the second quarter in its residential, commercial and industrial holdings and projects. The Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Valley's largest developer completed its largest single transaction, since the company went public in 1970 and began reporting its earnings, with the sale of Valencia Marketplace. The retail center is between the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. and The Old Road, McBean Parkway and Pico Canyon Road, and is anchored by tenants including Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Toys `R' Us and Sport Chalet Sport Chalet is a retailer of sporting equipment, apparel, shoes, and accessories in the United States. It operates approximately 40 company owned stores in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, with new stores opening soon in Utah, with the first at Jordan Landing. . ``It has a mile of freeway frontage, and it has terrific tenants, and the timing was good,'' Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said of Valencia Marketplace. That sale accounted for a large portion of the company's second-quarter income of $45 million, the highest in its history. Newhall Land, which has been developing Valencia for three decades, is enjoying a convergence of favorable factors that have boosted the value of its vast land holdings, Lauffer said. ``It's truly a function of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County's improving economy . . ., and it's fueled by job growth,'' she said. Yet part of the company's current success, Lauffer said, is an outgrowth of strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. efforts Newhall Land undertook while trying to weather the economic downturn that gripped Los Angeles County and the rest of California a few years ago. ``Real estate is a cyclical industry Cyclical Industry A term describing an industry that is sensitive to the business cycle and price changes. Many cyclical industries produce durable goods such as raw materials and heavy equipment. , and certainly we went through the very painful recession in the early 1990s,'' Lauffer said. But Newhall Land used that time to plan housing and business projects, and to secure government approval for them, so they would be ready for construction when the economy improved. ``We focused on entitlements so that we would have property available, and on our planning efforts, and on our relationships with industries and retailers to get them to relocate to Valencia,'' she added. During the second quarter, the Decoro Highlands and Hasley Hills residential tracts, which contain a combined 903 lots, closed escrow at 50 percent higher values than when they were appraised six months earlier. ``The demand for land is very strong right now, and the desire for builders, as well as prospective buyers, is very strong because of the great quality of life here,'' Lauffer said. New home sales New Home Sales An economic indicator that measures sales of newly built homes. Released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau, it includes both quantity and price statistics. by all builders in Valencia continued at the highest rate in nine years. Meanwhile, Newhall Land's commercial projects also are bustling with activity. In August, the Hyatt Valencia Hotel will open along McBean Parkway, and Princess Cruises headquarters will open in November. An additional 194,000 square feet of retail space is under construction, with 86,000 square feet expected to be available to retailers in time for the holiday shopping season along Town Center Drive. |
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