Schuler Homes buys 60 acres

By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer

Schuler Homes has acquired 60 acres in Makakilo in the latest Hawai'i development for the recently-merged Honolulu-based homebuilder.

The all-cash deal, which closed Monday, gives Schuler Homes five sites on which the company plans to build about 380 homes over four years.

Terms of the deal with Finance Realty were not disclosed.

"We're feeling pretty bullish on the Makakilo/Kapolei market right now," said Mike Jones, president of the Hawai'i division of Schuler Homes.

Jones said the company is seeing high demand at its two communities in the area, StarsEdge and Kapolei Knolls.

"With the (UH-West O'ahu) school going out there now, and all the different industry that is coming into Campbell Industrial Park, we just feel it's the place to be," said Mary K. Flood, vice president of sales and marketing at Schuler Homes.

Initial sales are expected to coincide with the completion of the first model homes by the end of next summer. Prices will average $200,000 to $250,000 for houses ranging from 1,000 to 1,600 square feet.

"We're actually trying to build homes that would hit a price point under $300,000," said Flood. "We've noticed a great demand for that in the marketplace."

Construction targets first-time buyers and young families who might have owned a condominium that has become too small, said Flood.

After a merger with Western Pacific Housing that doubled its size in April, Schuler Homes announced a merger with D.R. Horton — a deal expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2002 — that would again double its size and make the Texas-based D.R. Horton the second-largest home builder in the country, with revenues exceeding $6 billion in the 12 months ended in September.

Flood said the pending merger with D.R. Horton caused concern among residents and businesses that Schuler Homes would decrease its presence in Hawai'i.

"The opposite is true," she said. "Actually, it's good to be part of a larger entity in times when the economy is wavering."

The company's Makakilo purchase "shows people our commitment to the state," Flood said, adding that there are no plans to move Schuler offices to the Mainland.

Schuler Homes owns 2,500 lots in Hawai'i, mostly on O'ahu.