Home construction begins at Home Ranch

Deirdre Newman

The smell of hot asphalt permeated the area around IKEA Wednesday as

construction workers paved the entrance to the residential section of

the Home Ranch project.

Construction on the homes that will be known as Providence Park

started May 7. The tract will eventually include 60 single-family

homes and 83 townhomes. The model homes are set to open in November

while all of the homes should be finished by the end of 2004.

Residents who had lobbied for more housing at Home Ranch to help

alleviate the jobs-homes imbalance in the city welcomed the start of

construction.

“It will certainly meet a need that we have in our community,”

former Mayor Sandra Genis said. “I would have liked a larger amount

of acreage devoted to the housing, so just seeing any of it is a good

thing.”

The home prices haven’t been set yet, but there has been a lot of

interest expressed in the homes since IKEA opened, said Dana Bieber,

project manager for Standard Pacific, which is building the homes.

The prices will target first-time and move-up buyers, Bieber said.

Councilwoman Libby Cowan, who supported the Home Ranch project,

also said she was glad to see the bulldozers.

“I think it’s great,” Cowan said. “I’ve been watching the grading

process, and the whole Home Ranch is starting to take place, with

IKEA opening and Emulex being built, and it’ll be nice to see some of

the houses going up.”

While the Home Ranch houses are on their way to being built, there

is still controversy swirling around high-density condominiums at

1901 Newport Blvd. Genis said she wished more housing had gone into

Home Ranch so city leaders wouldn’t feel compelled to approve such a

high-density project downtown. The council approved the project and

then agreed to rehear it.

“Interestingly enough, the amount of housing eliminated at Home

Ranch is about the same amount that we’re trying to cram into 1901

Newport,” Genis said.