SIMI VALLEY : Wood Ranch Auction Is Delayed Again

The developer of Simi Valley’s sprawling Wood Ranch community, which had faced a foreclosure sale Friday after defaulting on a $15-million loan, has received another postponement from its lender, Wells Fargo Bank.

Tom Larmore, an attorney for the bank, said Thursday that the auction sale involving the Wood Ranch Golf Club and nearby undeveloped land is now scheduled for May 21. The extension will give Olympia/Roberts Co. more time to renegotiate its debts to the city of Simi Valley and the Simi Valley Unified School District, Larmore said.

Since it defaulted on the bank loan in November, Olympia/Roberts has received several auction sale postponements while it moves to sell its land or otherwise settle its financial problems.

Beyond the bank loan, Olympia/Roberts owes the city $250,000 for road improvements and the school district about $6 million for a long-promised elementary school.

The developer wants to modify its agreement with the city specifying how many houses and businesses could be built in Wood Ranch’s 3,000 acres in southwest Simi Valley. Frank Rugani, an attorney for Olympia/Roberts, has said the company wants to resolve its obligations to the city and school district under the revised development agreement.