Victorville Offers More for Less When It Comes to Home Buys : Lower Cost of Land Results in Better Prices
This High Desert San Bernardino County city is to the eastern San Gabriel Valley what the Lancaster/Palmdale area is to the San Fernando Valley: A place where affordable houses on fairly large lots can be built economically.
This is the opinion of Tom Martin, vice president of market research for Builders Sales Corp., Santa Ana. Martin bases his view on more than 250 market studies that he has done in the last 2 1/2 years. In addition to marketing houses for developers, the firm conducts market research work on a fee basis, he added.
“A home built in Corona/Riverside or Ontario, for example, that would sell for $100,000 to $120,000, can easily be built in Victorville, Rancho California or Lake Elsinore for 15% to 20% less, usually on larger lots,” Martin said.
All this is ancient history to Ira Norris, president of Upland-based Inco Homes. He knew the potential of the community years ago, even though other builders warned him to avoid Victorville.
Delayed Home Sales
But Norris is a pioneer at heart--he claims to be the first major builder to enter the Sunnymead market in 1977--so he decided that Victorville was worth a try.
At the end of 1978, Norris put 220 acres of land along Bear Valley Road in escrow, just in time for the housing slowdown of 1979. He didn’t even try to put a house on the market during the worst of the housing downturn, so his Liberty Village project didn’t go on sale until February, 1982.
“Our market strategy was to aim for the commuter market, not the local residents,” Norris said. “The ‘builder graveyard’ image came from home builders trying to sell homes to people who already lived in the High Desert communities.”
The development racked up 47 pre-sales before the models opened, despite mortgage interest rates nearing the 18% range, he said. Designed by Calabasas-based architect Bill Pauli, the houses in Liberty Village range in size from 906 to 1,879 square feet, with two, three and four bedrooms.
Little or No Smog
The initial offering had prices starting at $48,990--fully $20,000 below comparable houses in Ontario, Sunnymead, Fontana and other price-sensitive “Down Below” communities, Norris said. He served as 1985 president of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.
“Our current prices are in the $59,990 to $92,990 range, still well under the prices in those areas, and we offer one-third-acre lots and little or no smog,” he said. “We have a very energy efficient design, and the houses have luxury features like volume ceilings and bonus rooms. They’re relatively inexpensive, but they’re not cheaply built.”
Today, more than 650 families live in Liberty Village and other builders have joined Norris in the High Desert community.
Victorville, with an estimated population of 39,000--up from 22,967 in 1980--is the primary employment center for the 600-square-mile Victor Valley, according to Thomas J. Swieca of the Riverside office of Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services.
Affordable Land
Other cities in the area, which has about 125,000 residents, are: Hesperia, with about 35,000 residents, Apple Valley with about 34,000 and smaller communities, including Adelanto, Helendale, Lucerne Valley, Oro Grande, Phelan and George Air Force Base.
“The Victor Valley area is one of the most substantial growth areas of Southern California because of affordable land for development and the semi-convenient proximity to San Bernardino and Ontario, towns with rapidly growing labor markets,” Swieca added.
Watson Pacific Corp. has been in Victorville for years, so it’s not accurate to lump the firm in with the newcomers. The firm’s 119-house Sagecreek, 40-acre development features three- and four-bedroom houses with 1,327 to 1,692 square feet of space, priced from $76,950 to $86,950. The first phase of 27 houses is scheduled to go on sale in August.
Another Victorville-based firm, Jess Ranch Development Co., is building what may turn out to be the area’s largest single development at Bear Valley and Apple Valley roads. The Jess Ranch is expected to have 4,700 dwelling units when completed in a decade, according to developer Gary Ledford. So far, 167 houses have been constructed, he added.
Less Maintenance Factor
Lan Ron Builders has been selling houses since May in Summit View Homes, adjacent to Liberty Village on Bear Valley Road. The 313-unit development features two- and three-bedroom houses in five floor plans with 884 to 1,493 square feet, priced from $54,990 to $76,990.
“Our housing product is built on smaller 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot lots to accommodate both the young family looking for an affordably priced home, as well as the retired empty-nester looking for quality features and a lower level of maintenance,” according to Scott Brown, vice president of Lan Ron.
He added that Victorville and adjacent communities have historically attracted retirees from the Los Angeles area seeking a slower-paced life style and cleaner air, but still not too far out in the desert.
Inco’s Norris said that many of the buyers in Liberty Village are overqualified--they are buying less house than they can afford. Whether this is a sign of the times when many people are up to their necks in consumer debt or whether people just don’t feel comfortable making $1,000 a month house payments, Norris doesn’t know, or even care, for that matter.
Spend Time Traveling
“One recent buyer of a $59,990 house had a family income of $41,000, enough to qualify for the top-of-the-line house,” he said. “That two-bedroom model is particularly popular with cash buyers, many of whom spend much of their time traveling. It’s a single-family detached home that buyers treat as a condominium.”
Rivaling Liberty Village in size is Sunset Ridge, a 508-unit single-family development by Laguna Pacific that went on sale last October. Sunset Ridge features two-, three- and four-bedroom houses with 935 to 1,694 square feet on half-acre lots.
Marketed something on the order of Japanese cars, with short option lists, the only option offered is a three-car garage, according to Darrel Wright, president of the building firm.
Ashley Glen Homes by Ashley Glen Development Corp., Laguna Niguel, will have a total of 356 two-, three- and four-bedroom houses on lots averaging 8,500 square feet, according to Tom Landolf of the development firm. The prices are competitive with other houses in the area--$69,950 to $91,950--but Landolf cites the availability of sewers in the neighborhood on the city’s northwest side, near Amargosa Road and Mojave Drive.
Shopping Center
“Many other developers in the area have large lots because they have septic tank systems that need large lots,” he added.
The growth in the residential sector is being matched by a major undertaking in the retail sector--the construction of the Mall of Victor Valley, the largest shopping center between San Bernardino and Las Vegas.
The $50-million, 579,000-square-foot regional mall will open Nov. 3, according to Everett Shine, project director for Forest City Properties, the Cleveland-based developer.
There will be 100 mall stores and three anchoring department stores--Mervyn’s, J C Penney and Harris of San Bernardino--he said, adding that there is room for expansion on the 57-acre site on Bear Valley Road and Interstate 15, just east of Liberty Village.
Centralized Food Court
“We are extremely excited about the high-quality tenant mix at the Mall of Victor Valley,” said Randy Brant, vice president of leasing. “The trade area is one of the fastest growing in California and promises a fertile atmosphere for the shopping center’s national and local retailers.”
In keeping with the latest trend in shopping centers, the mall will feature a centralized food court and a 10-screen cinema complex.
Coldwell Banker’s Swieca said it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the mall as a catalyst for additional development. It is expected to draw customers from the entire Victor Valley, as well as other areas, for a total population base in the 225,000 range.
Another shopping center will be built by Jack Tarr Development Co., Newport Beach, on a 28.5-acre site north of the mall, Swieca said. Ground breaking is expected this fall, with 289,700 square feet of retail space, including four major stores with 20,000 square feet, 30,000 square feet, 40,000 square feet and 78,700 square feet, respectively.
Another Shopping Center
Another commercial project planned for Victorville is Victor Valley Plaza, at the northwest corner of Bear Valley and Cottonwood roads. Construction is expected to begin in September on the center, anchored by a Hughes Market. The developer is Center Development, Newport Beach.
Swieca said that Victorville is not a major office area and probably won’t be one for a long time. A September completion is scheduled for the Park Tower, a 41,202-square-foot office building developed by Obser Investment Co., Victorville, at the southwest corner of Palmdale Road and Interstate 15. The building is more than 50% leased.
Hesperia and Apple Valley--the latter the most upscale community in the area, boasting such residents as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, according to Swieca--are scheduled to get new shopping centers beginning this fall.
Mid-Town Square in Hesperia, an 18-acre site with 215,000 square feet of retail space, is scheduled for a November construction start, as a partnership of the Riley Cos., Inmark Investments and Urban Properties Inc.
The same development team is involved in the 12.5-acre Apple Valley Shopping Center, a 130,000-square-foot project to be anchored by Safeway. Construction is expected to begin next spring, Swieca said.
Councilwoman Peggy Sartor is not surprised about all the interest in Victorville, but she wants the growth to be “quality projects, the kind we can live with.” She definitely doesn’t want the relaxed High Desert life style of the Victor Valley to disappear in a welter of unplanned development, she said.
