Pennsylvania-based luxury homebuilding company Toll Brothers is shelling out $1.6 billion to acquire Shapell Industries, a Southland home builder that's helped develop in Porter Ranch for nearly 40 years.
Founded in 1955 and housed in Beverly Hills, Shapell has constructed more than 70,000 homes throughout California.
"We are honored and thrilled to have been selected by the Shapell family to continue the legacy of such an amazing company," said Douglas Yearley Jr., Toll Brothers' chief executive officer. "The tremendous land portfolio the Shapell family has amassed over decades in California presents an incredible opportunity for Toll Brothers. This acquisition will provide significant growth over the coming years and, we believe, will be accretive to earnings in the first year, excluding transaction costs."
Shapell's portfolio includes 5,200 homes, 97.5 percent of which are entitled, in established communities.
After the transaction is finalized in 2014, Toll Brothers says it plans on selling $500 million worth of Shapell's land, though its not clear yet which specific sites those would be.
Shapell authored a Porter Ranch Master Plan that outlined current and future projects. Paula Cracium, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council, plans on meeting with Toll Brothers representatives to discuss how the sale of Shapell could shape the community's future.
A statement from the neighborhood council read: "The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council understands that the future development of our community affects all of our neighbors and stakeholders and we look forward to continuing that partnership with Toll Brothers, pending completion of the acquisition in the first quarter of 2014. ... We encourage our stakeholders to share their comments and questions by emailing our council atboard@prnc.org."
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