RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE : 3 Builders Acquire 103 Acres of Land in Mission Viejo

In the biggest land sale in Mission Viejo in more than a year, a trio of Southland builders has acquired 103 acres of residential property in the Pacific Hills area of the city.

The builders are Kaufman & Broad Homes’ South Coast division in Newport Beach, Lewis Homes of Upland and Fieldstone Co., also in Newport Beach. They purchased the acreage, which contains 511 undeveloped lots, from Bank of California, which acquired the property when it foreclosed on the original owner, a joint venture of now-defunct HomeFed Bank in San Diego and Barratt American, a builder based in La Jolla.

The companies and Bank of California are keeping mum about the purchase price. Word on the street is that the three builders paid between $75,000 and $80,000 a lot--or $38 million to $40 million.

That’s a discount of about 40% from what HomeFed and Barratt had agreed to pay for the land and should translate into much lower-priced homes than initially planned.

Roland Osgood, head of K&B;’s South Coast division, said his company’s 169 homes will be priced at $180,000 to $210,000. Fieldstone, which acquired 182 lots, and Lewis, which got 160 lots, anticipate starting prices at about $210,000.

The entire Pacific Hills property was 185 acres and 700 lots, meaning that Bank of California still has 82 acres and 189 lots to sell.