Orange County Business : REAL ESTATE

Coto de Caza Homes: Christopher Gibbs, 50, former chief operating officer of J.M. Peters Co. in Newport Beach, hopes to specialize in building so-called move-up homes with his fledging company, Christopher Homes Development Co.

Christopher Homes is now acquiring 94 homes sites in Coto de Caza, a master-planned community in South County. The first orders for homes are expected to be taken later this month. The single-family homes will be priced from about $210,000 to $250,000. They will range in size from 1,845 square feet to 2,107 square feet.

“My objective was to get back into the home-building business. I started picking up nails when I was 7 years old,” Gibbs said. “Our objectives are to get into the master-planned communities, with a better-designed and quality home.”

Gibbs ran Christopher Homes from 1978 to 1987, then sold a majority of its assets to builder J.M. Peters.