Dailey & Co. to Acquire Ponderosa Homes Unit

Aetna Life & Casualty is leaving the residential development business.

James S. Dailey & Co., a newly established real estate development firm headed and named for the president of Ponderosa Homes, has announced that it will acquire from Aetna operating assets of the southern division of Ponderosa Homes. In April, Ponderosa sold its Northern California operation division to a group of former executives.

Ponderosa, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Aetna, placed eighth in The Times’ 14th annual (1984) Survey of Residential Building in Southern California.

Dailey, which has offices in Irvine, Denver, Houston and Oakbrook, Ill., also reached an agreement with Aetna to manage and oversee completion of Ponderosa’s present Southern California development projects and to dispose of undeveloped properties in the state. In the meantime, Ponderosa, as a James S. Dailey & Co. subsidiary, will continue to build homes in Southern California and is about to open projects in Hacienda Heights, Lakewood and Ontario.