Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd

Winning Builders: Irvine Co. has selected several firms to build single-family homes in the company's Northwood 5 project near Irvine. Twelve builders were vying for the opportunity, but the developer tapped five with which to negotiate exclusively. The winners: Kaufman & Broad in Los Angeles, Costain Homes in Newport Beach, Standard Pacific Corp. in Costa Mesa, Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. in Laguna Hills and Pardee Construction of Los Angeles.

Koll Real Estate Group Inc. has formed a joint venture with Taylor Woodrow to develop a 390-acre residential property known as Fairbanks Highlands in North San Diego County, the companies announced Monday. A unit of Koll Real Estate contributed its land at market value in exchange for an initial cash payment and a continued partnership interest in the venture. Taylor Woodrow will manage the day-to-day operations of the venture and expects to build the majority of homes on the site.

A Superior Court judge said Thursday that he needs more time before considering a motion by a developer to toss out a building moratorium imposed by the City Council last July. The building freeze was enacted after city officials learned that the Orange County district attorney was investigating a land transaction involving 96 acres that had once been set aside for a future park. The council said a moratorium was needed to prevent the rest of the property from being developed.

Home builders as a rule tend to be more like flocks of sheep than maverick cattle when it comes to housing design. But Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. has blazed its own trail in recent years, taking architectural risks to produce some of the most talked-about tract homes in Southern California.

The City Council will meet in a special closed session Tuesday to review an Orange County Grand Jury report that criticized city officials and others for their part in a controversial 1988 land transaction. "We're going to go over the recommendations of the grand jury and see how they may affect our pending litigation," Mayor Patricia C. Bates said. "We want to talk with our staff and make sure all the procedures are being followed correctly."

A judge Thursday lifted a controversial Laguna Niguel building moratorium that had halted construction of at least 65 homes on property once set aside for parkland. Superior Court Judge Floyd H. Schenk ruled that Laguna Niguel failed to hold a fact-finding hearing before imposing the freeze in July, 1990, on part of Marina Hills. The ruling marked the first round in a legal dispute between the city and Marina Hills developer Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd.

The organizers of a petition drive to support a proposed ordinance to protect undeveloped ridgelines in Laguna Niguel say they have gathered enough signatures to place the matter on the Nov. 6 ballot. The campaign received an unexpected boost from the controversy over the development of 96 acres of land that had been set aside for parks. That matter was disclosed in news reports of July 13, the day before the petition drive officially began.

Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. filed suit Friday to force Laguna Niguel to lift a building moratorium imposed in July when it was disclosed that the district attorney was investigating a land transaction in the developer's Marina Hills planned community. The suit also asks an Orange County Superior Court judge to enforce a quit claim deed in which public control over the land--96 acres of open space--was deeded to Taylor Woodrow.

The city has filed a lawsuit against a Newport Beach developer for allegedly misleading city officials during a land transaction that resulted in about 100 homes being built on 96 acres of parkland. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court on Friday against Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd., seeks to overturn that 1988 transaction and asks that the developer repay the public for the loss of open space. The amount of the monetary compensation was not designated.

Two key figures in the criminal investigation of a 1988 Laguna Niguel land transfer spent several hours Wednesday voluntarily testifying before the Orange County Grand Jury. Against the advice of their attorney, former Laguna Niguel Community Services District manager James S. Mocalis and former district board attorney James S. Okazaki carried enlarged copies of development maps and boxes of documents as they entered the grand jury witness room in the County Courthouse.

Winning Builders: Irvine Co. has selected several firms to build single-family homes in the company's Northwood 5 project near Irvine. Twelve builders were vying for the opportunity, but the developer tapped five with which to negotiate exclusively. The winners: Kaufman & Broad in Los Angeles, Costain Homes in Newport Beach, Standard Pacific Corp. in Costa Mesa, Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. in Laguna Hills and Pardee Construction of Los Angeles.

Abandoning an 18-month-old court fight sparked by the discovery that homes were built on land once reserved for public open space, Laguna Niguel has agreed to allow the developer to continue building on the disputed acreage. In return, the company has agreed to drop the $25-million damage suit it filed against Laguna Niguel after the city voted to impose a moratorium on the project in 1990. City Atty. Terry E.

The city of Laguna Niguel will appeal a recent court decision that lifted a building moratorium on property once slated for parkland. After hours of closed-session discussions over the past 10 days, the City Council decided Tuesday to appeal the ruling. The moratorium had stopped the construction of at least 65 homes in the Marina Hills development.

A judge Thursday lifted a controversial Laguna Niguel building moratorium that had halted construction of at least 65 homes on property once set aside for parkland. Superior Court Judge Floyd H. Schenk ruled that Laguna Niguel failed to hold a fact-finding hearing before imposing the freeze in July, 1990, on part of Marina Hills. The ruling marked the first round in a legal dispute between the city and Marina Hills developer Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd.

A Superior Court judge said Thursday that he needs more time before considering a motion by a developer to toss out a building moratorium imposed by the City Council last July. The building freeze was enacted after city officials learned that the Orange County district attorney was investigating a land transaction involving 96 acres that had once been set aside for a future park. The council said a moratorium was needed to prevent the rest of the property from being developed.

Lawyers for one of Orange County's most prominent developers and one of its youngest cities will face off today as a Superior Court judge takes up a civil suit over how 96 acres once set aside for parkland ended up with more than 100 homes on them. After months of pretrial maneuvering, Judge Floyd H. Schenk is expected this afternoon to hear the first round in a dispute that has pitted Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. against the City of Laguna Niguel.

The Orange County district attorney is investigating a controversial 1988 transaction that passed 99 acres dedicated for parks in Laguna Niguel to a developer for construction of nearly 200 homes, about half of which have already been built. Members of the Laguna Niguel City Council, representatives of the developer--Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd.

The public's right to 96 acres of potential Laguna Niguel parkland was signed away in 1988 by inattentive, misinformed public officials and was turned over to a development company that showed "disdain for the system," the Orange County Grand Jury concluded in a report released Wednesday.

The City Council will meet in a special closed session Tuesday to review an Orange County Grand Jury report that criticized city officials and others for their part in a controversial 1988 land transaction. "We're going to go over the recommendations of the grand jury and see how they may affect our pending litigation," Mayor Patricia C. Bates said. "We want to talk with our staff and make sure all the procedures are being followed correctly."

The public's right to 96 acres of potential Laguna Niguel parkland was signed away in 1988 by inattentive, misinformed public officials and was turned over to a development company that showed "disdain for the system," the Orange County Grand Jury concluded in a report released Wednesday.