Strong Sales Cited at Housing Project

The developer of the Dos Vientos housing project has reported strong sales at the controversial development.

Arlen Miller of Calabasas-based Miller Brothers Associates said his company has reduced its marketing efforts at the housing development to ensure that builders don’t cut corners in an effort to meet demand.

“We’ve had 150 closings so far this year, so it’s on a pace that has far exceeded our expectations,” Miller said during a tour of the Dos Vientos site Tuesday. “It’s well beyond what we had ever anticipated.”

The city of Thousand Oaks has filed a cross-complaint against Miller Brothers and its partner, Operating Engineers Pension Trust of Pasadena. The city wants the court to rule that it acted properly in revoking the developers’ permission to continue work on extending Borchard Road.

The legal battle involves the steepness of a proposed section of Borchard Road that would feed the eastern portion of the 2,350-unit, $700-million development.

The city had approved the extension at a 12% grade two years ago. That is 7% steeper than city codes would allow. It is also 5% steeper than the incline of the Conejo Grade.

City officials have since changed their position after a report deemed the proposed roadway as dangerously steep.