Mattamy buys Florida ranch property for $86.25M by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff 9 | Wednesday, June 18, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Oakville-based Mattamy Homes recently purchased a more than 9,600-acre property in southwest Florida in one of its largest U.S. residential land transactions in the past decade. The local home-building company closed the deal, valued at $86.25 million, with Thomas Enterprises May 28 -- it had been looking at the property for the past nine months. The Sarasota, Fla. property, called Thomas Ranch, includes 6,000 acres in the City of North Port and 3,650 acres in Sarasota County. The acquisition is the largest real estate purchase in Mattamy Homes' 10-plus year business relationship in the U.S., says Chief Operating Officer Brian Johnston -- Mattamy Homes operates in seven U.S. markets, including Orlando, Jacksonville and Phoenix, Az. "It's so unusual. You don't go out looking for pieces of land such as this. They only come to market once in a blue moon... because it's so large. It's an enormous tract of land," he said. "I've been told it's near the size of Newmarket." Peter Gilgan, Mattamy Homes founder and CEO, says such tracts of land are extremely rare. "We're extremely excited about the growth potential of this part of Florida," he said. "We believe the baby-boomer demographic will continue to look to Florida as a place they want to retire and this parcel of land will serve that need exceptionally well." Johnston says the opportunity was compelling to Mattamy because of its sheer size and location. "Because it was extremely large... (it) told us U.S. public home builders would not look at it," he said. "It's adjacent to existing residential developments -- like buying 10,000 Peter Gilgan acres of land north of Dundas in Oakville (and) it's within a mile of the beaches in Venice (Fla.)." Mattamy Homes is paying approximately $10,000 gross per acre for the land. The site is primarily undeveloped but approved for construction of more than 11,000 homes and three million square feet of commercial uses. Johnston says Mattamy Homes will be planning out how best to use the property, starting with taking large tracts of land to market. "We're going to take 700- to 2,000-unit tracts and Mattamy will either build on them or sell them off to other builders in the area." Johnston says the company sees the first wave of baby-boomer retirees as its primary buyers -- development is expected to begin in 2016. Johnston called the land purchase an unprecedented opportunity, noting although the U.S. housing market has begun to rebound, albeit slower than predicted, it is well behind what the area's demographic needs are. "We're going to continue to study the market's needs and wants, and ensure each piece of land is targeted in the proper direction," said Johnston. Vanguard Land, a Sarasota-based real estate development and investment firm, will be a minority partner in the property. Johnston called the real estate transaction an "interesting example of a Canadian company spreading its wings and taking its business model to the U.S." "Personally, I feel very good about Mattamy doing this in the sense that all too often Canada has been a branch plant operation (to the U.S.)," he said. "I think you're seeing more and more of this from Canadian companies, primarily because our economy has been much stronger than the U.S. over the last five-seven years. "Canadian companies are feeling they have the capital and the expertise to go to foreign markets -- in our case, it's the U.S. -- and put some of that expertise into play." DRYWALL Don't BIN IT Don't DUMP IT DELIVER IT for recycling NEW WEST GYPSUM RECYCLING Located just off the QEW at 2182 WYECROFT ROAD, OAKVILLE Pos itivel ive y Affecti Open to the public ng Where We L 8:30am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday Closed Weekends and Holidays LEED certification Rate: $57.50/Tonne www.nwgypsum.com Any amount acceptable 905-847-0520 2076 Speers Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6L 2X8 KVAR ENERGY SAVER UNIT Special on Unit Cost from $399 to $349 plus tax (SAVE $50) 12 year warranty provided by AFER and CSA approved Commercial Units also available. 905-845-9063 Local physicians are conducting a research study of an investigational medication that may reduce the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). You may qualify to participate if you: Frequent and/or urgent urination Not feeling empty after urination Weak or interrupted urine stream Can Reduce your hydro cost up to 25% Contact North Star Electric to arrange a demo/purchase of the KVAR System. ACP Approved contractor with Electrical Safety Authority. Installation $200 + tax (includes ESA permit and certificate) If you qualify for participation, all study-related care will be provided at no cost and insurance is not needed. To learn more about The PLUS 1 Study, please call: www.aferinc.com & www.northstarelectric.ca 1-855-70-MYBPH