RANCH TO SELL LIVESTOCK TEJON SHIFTING TOWARD HOME DEVELOPMENT.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

TEJON - Sprawling Tejon Ranch, its rolling hills a backdrop for grazing cattle at Los Angeles County's northern gateway, announced Friday it is selling its livestock operation in a landmark shift toward real estate development.

Profits from the sale of about 35,000 head of cattle will help the state's largest private landowner fund the transition from working ranch to master-planned community, said Allen E. Lyda, the Tejon Ranch Co.'s chief financial officer.

``Our board of directors and shareholders want to go forward with what they see as the future value of that land,'' Lyda said. ``Real estate investment is costly, and we are now focusing on that aspect of the business.''

Tejon Ranch, straddling the Kern-Los Angeles County line, is the largest piece of contiguous, private real estate in California - 270,000 acres, or about 422 square miles, roughly the size of Los Angeles. It was established 140 years ago, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles near what is now the junction of the Golden State Freeway and Highway 138.

Earlier this year, the publicly held Tejon Ranch Co. signed an agreement with three of the nation's largest real-estate developers - Pardee Construction Co., Lewis Investment Company LLC and Standard Pacific Corp. - to create a 4,000-acre master-planned community near the Golden State Freeway and Highway 138.

Since then, Ikea announced plans to build its West Coast distribution center, anchoring Tejon's planned industrial complex on 350 acres in Kern County.

An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 homes are planned for the 20,000 acres on the Los Angeles County side of the ranch. The company has yet to present a formal development plan to the county Department of Regional Planning, Lyda said.

But that is expected to come by the end of the year as the company begins selling off its herd in a three-pronged plan.

The breeding herd will be sold by the end of the year, and will likely remain on Tejon property under a lease agreement. Cattle on a feed lot in Texas will be sold - probably to the same buyer - and existing stock will go to market within the next 15 months.

Tejon Ranch's evolution mirrors that of another large landholder to the south, The Newhall Land and Farming Company, which three decades ago began developing the community of Valencia.

``I think we're probably 30 years behind Newhall Land,'' Lyda said. ``When you think about where they were and where they are now, I'd say we're very much alike.

In fact, Tejon Ranch looks to the Santa Clarita area and to a lesser extent, the Antelope Valley to the east, as assets - not competition.

While, Tejon plans industrial and commercial development, Lyda said it is logical that residents of new subdivisions there would commute to jobs in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, about 40 miles away.

``Actually, we're at this stage that growth in Santa Clarita is not a negative for us,'' he said. ``We're just the next extension. From the end of Santa Clarita, you have national forest and then you have us. Our view is if that area is successful and grows, that helps us.''

Tejon boasts a dramatic topography - with its highest peak just below 7,000 feet and valleys with elevations under 500 feet.

``We have rolling grassy hills, plus the Tehachapi Mountain range, lot of valleys and plateaus,'' Lyda said.

The company also has a well water supply, natural springs and a state water entitlement, a key to developing in Los Angeles County, he added.