A Shea Homes model home in San Diego, CA. The company hopes to start building homes like this in Houston in 2014.
Shea Homes, one of America’s largest private homebuilders, announced it will be starting a new operating division in the Houston market. This will be the company’s first entry into Texas.
Keith Luechtefeld, an experienced local market operator, has joined Shea Homes as the new Division President. His first few orders of business will be putting together a team, contacting land owners/developers to get land acquisitions and find a space for an office.
“We are pleased to have someone of Keith’s caliber and experience lead our Houston division,” Bert Selva, Shea Homes president and CEO, said.
Luechtefeld was previously the Houston Division President of Darling Homes, which primarily operated in the master planned communities of the Houston market. Because he has so much experience in that area, the new division of Shea Homes will be targeting communities there as well, particularly in the western half of Houston’s metro area.
Shea Homes and the Growth of Houston’s Housing Market
Shea Homes has branches in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Washington. So why choose Houston as its newest location? The company’s CFO, Andy Parnes, says Houston is one of the strongest, fastest-growing housing markets in the nation, which made it very appealing.
“Texas has a very strong economy that has always been recognized, and it will make a nice compliment to our existing geographical footprint,” he said. “If you look at the number of new single family homes being sold and delivered in the Houston market today, versus where those numbers peaked in the prior cycle, there is a lot of growth opportunity left in the market.”
Parnes believes the entry of Shea Homes will help contribute to this growth. One of the ways is through its positive brand recognition. Not only has the company been recognized nationally for its achievements, but it specifically is recognized in Houston by many land developers through existing or previous business transactions.
The company expects to deliver its first new homes in the Houston area in 2014 and is very excited about it.
“We’ve got a great person in Keith, we think the timing is very positive and we think Houston is one of the top housing markets in the country,” Parnes said.