Forest City Acquires Residential Lots in San Antonio

Acquisition includes sites in five premier subdivisions

Forest City Enterprises Inc., the development company for Stapleton in Denver, recently completed an acquisition of more than 2,500 single-family home lots in the San Antonio, Texas, market.

Forest City Enterprises Inc. recently announced that its Forest City Land Group business unit and joint venture partner Covington Capital Corp. have completed the acquisition of more than 2,500 single-family home lots in the San Antonio, Texas, market.

Forest City and Covington Capital have gained an immediate presence in the market by acquiring lot positions and land in several planned communities in the area, including Alamo Ranch, Stillwater Ranch, Ashton Park, Indian Springs and Heights of Cibolo, among others.

The land and lots, acquired from Standard Pacific Homes of Irvine, Calif., include finished lots as well as future platted lots and encompass price ranges that will serve both first-time homeowners as well as move-up buyers.

“This is an example of our stated strategy of taking advantage of national market conditions to selectively acquire properties and land in key markets. The solid underlying fundamentals of the San Antonio market, including job growth, attractive cost of living and the recreational opportunities provided by the Hill Country area all provide a positive outlook for the single-family market in the long-term,” said Bob Monchein, president of Forest City Land Group.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission CES Survey, Greater San Antonio created 15,500 net new jobs for the 12-month period ending November 2007. While job growth has slowed from highs seen in late 2005 and 2006, the 2007 survey continues to show solid growth.

Seeing a similar pattern of growth, Cassie Gibson of Residential Strategies Inc., stated, “The outlook for the Greater San Antonio new home market remains positive, despite the overall national housing market and credit market woes.”

Forest City’s entrance into the San Antonio market continues the relationship between Covington Capital and Forest City, which have worked in partnership on Mesa del Sol, a 12,000-acre development in Albuquerque, N.M., Forest City’s largest project currently under development; Paseo del Este, a 4,400-acre development in El Paso, Texas; along with other commercial property in the El Paso region.

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