‘Frustrated Builder’ New Head of Top Land Development Firm
Mim Scott, the charismatic new president of Genstar Southwest Development, views her recent promotion as just another rung on the professional ladder. And, hopefully, not one that would make her simply a corporate figurehead.
“My style is being able to roll up my sleeves and get to work. There is no place for hotshots in our business,” she stresses.
Previously with Genstar Land-USA, a division of the Canadian-based Genstar Corp. and the parent company of Genstar Southwest Development, Scott worked in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Washington State.
“I did a lot of trouble-shooting for the firm during the lean years between 1980 and 1984, when it became crucial to run a tight ship,” she said, adding that Genstar Southwest Development’s revenues for 1985 were in excess of $100 million.
She is quick to list tenacity as her most valuable professional attribute. “I’m at the top because of a steady climb, because of a diversity of assignments, longevity in the business and good guidance from mentors.”
To young women aiming for career achievement, Scott suggests that “what you need to do is get your foot in the door, where you think you want to be.” An accounting background in the building field got her her start, but she went on to explore other facets of the profession that seemed more appealing.
“I was a frustrated builder,from the word go, and I realized that even more after I began working for a North San Diego County builder. I became so interested in how homes were built that I even took drafting courses.
“There was so much I felt that architects omitted. They just didn’t seem to understand how women function in the home, and showed little concern about how they felt about their homes.”
Soon Scott was being asked to participate in meetings and frequently made suggestions for changes. Her experience branched off into appraising and later into property acquisition.
Her education was in the liberal arts. “That’s how it was when I was in college,” she said. “We went for a broader education, and I expect we’ll be going back to that concept. It leads to greater creative curiosity, to wanting to explore other avenues before settling on specific goals, and I look for that kind of spark in the people I hire. I’m all for people starting out with temporary jobs to find out what’s going on and what interests them.”
Land Development Expertise
In raising her four children, now adults, Scott said she emphasized the importance of not being backward about asking for help. “Let people know you want to learn; the help is there for those who ask for it. In most jobs, certainly in mine, 95% is in dealing with people.”
As president of Genstar Southwest Development, Scott’s jurisdiction encompasses the firm’s land holdings in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
“Our expertise is basically in land development,” Scott explained, “and as such we must not only be aware of what developers are looking for but what buyers ultimately want.”
In San Diego County, Genstar still owns about 7,000 acres and is the master developer of Bernardo Heights, Rancho Penasquitos and the 2,600-acre Fanita Ranch in Santee, as well as for projects in Sorrento Hills and Mira Mesa, which combine industrial, residential and in some cases, mixed-use communities.
Microcosm of Market
Bernardo Heights is a favorite subject with Scott. She calls the 1,018-acre, master-planned community “the jewel in Genstar’s crown,” and remains intrigued that it should have come to represent a microcosm of the housing market in just six years, setting a record sales pace for surrounding communities.
Scott said sales figures for the first six months of 1986 in that master-planned community indicated a record pace of 305 units totaling $52.6 million. Sales by developers of 11 neighborhoods ranged from condominiums and single-family homes to custom home lots, with prices in the $80,000 to $350,000 range.
“We built Bernardo Heights the way we said we would,” Scott noted, tracing the on-going development of that community. “The brochure we put out in 1979 depicting our concept is very close to what we have there today.”
Located on the southern edge of Rancho Bernardo, the 1,100-acre Bernardo Heights adjoins Interstate 15 and has a country club at the top. Genstar bought it from AVCO in 1978, and since 1984, all land parcels have been sold to developers.
Difficult Process
Responding to the concerns of major land developers about diminishing open spaces, she said:
“As land gets used up, we are having to deal with more land constraints. You can’t always have those rolling hills, you know, but we always do keep that word location foremost in our minds.”
In the San Diego area, it is particularly difficult to process a straight subdivision, she said. It must be either a planned residential or commercial development, and in either case, city and county are imposing increasing controls over design.
“Unfortunately, the period between the planning process and when a new project can be offered on the market is much too lengthy,” Scott said. “We sometimes spend years waiting to get through all the red tape and the required approvals. Even after six years of work and revisions, it is difficult to get a major project built.
“In some cases, with plans that come under Coastal Commission jurisdiction, it may take a number of years to obtain approval and clearance,” Scott said. “These delays are currently running from about three to six years, so that bringing things on line becomes crucial and requires that we always have some other new project in tow.
Explains Functions
“Our function is essentially to provide lots to land developers, to master-plan an area in accordance with specific land uses, and to hire planning companies and engineering firms as part of our team of consultants,” Scott added.
The team to which Scott refers brings together a combination of talents and input. “We tend to get builders that we like to work for, but we never lose sight of our end users. We do the planning that they are out looking for.”
How have lower interest rates affected the land developers? “Builders are selling out very quickly and looking for land faster than we can provide. It’s hard to be up against that kind of market.”
Another significant reason for the firm’s high sales volume, Scott said, is Genstar’s introduction of new product variety in its master-planned communities, and the strong appeal of the San Diego climate.
Different Buyers
“A few years ago the typical buyer was semi-retired or retired, with no children at home. Today’s buyers are a mix of North County businessmen, corporate transferees, young families and second-home or vacation home buyers. It’s as if a whole new caravan of Midwest and Eastern buyers, driven by the cruel 1984-85 winter, searched out Bernardo Heights for its temperate climate, outdoor life style and recreational amenities.”
The growing industrial/research and commercial development along the Interstate 15 corridor has boosted expansion of the area, Scott added, and Rancho Bernardo’s inclusion in the Poway school district also has attracted many families there.
Some of the builders who have purchased parcels of Genstar’s land holdings in that region include Sunland Housing Group in the high acreage and price range, and Woodcrest Development with smaller homes on small patio lots in the low-medium price range.
Building Activity
Other builder activity in the area includes Harry L. Summers Inc. San Diego, with its 124-unit single-family home development at Bernardo Heights, and Brehm Communities’ Los Rios with 129 attached and detached golf course condominium homes. Already sold out is the 83-unit Mediterranean-styled Palazzo Bernardo, a gated community by Lido Pacific Group, with retiree home buyer in the majority, but also reflecting a gradual number of young home seekers.
Wolfe Homes is marketing its two single-family home neighborhoods, Parview and Fairway Heights in Bernardo Heights; Walden Financial Inc., builder of Bernardo Greens, a 154-unit condominium project, has been selling to out-of-town retirees looking for smaller homes, and McKellar Homes has launched three new residential projects containing 336 condominium units.
Chateau Bernardo by Pacific Scene of San Diego opened in May, and its 91-unit single-family residences are nearing sellout, while UDC Development Co., developer of Las Brisas Bernardo, has already begun marketing Las Flores, a community of 150 condominiums, and 128 patio homes.
