ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL
July 16, 2007

By Mark Mueller
ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL STAFF

The slowdown in Southern California homebuilding appears to be a great time for master developers to get into the game.

The latest venture: Forestar Land Partners LLC, a partnership between newly-created Foremost Communities Inc. in Newport Beach and real estate investment firm Starwood Capital Group Global LLC of Greenwich, Conn.

Forestar plans to buy more than $250 million worth of land in Southern California during the next few years. It will get the land entitled and developed into finished lots for sale to homebuilders. The company says it is seeking parcels that can hold a minimum of 200 lots.

An affiliate of Starwood will provide $100 million of equity for the venture. Foremost will manage the developments.

Foremost began operations this year. It’s headed up by Steve Cameron, formerly the chief operating officer for Newport Beach-based homebuilder Fieldstone Communities Inc.

Prior to that, he headed Orange County operations for Fieldstone. He’s also a past president of the OC chapter of the Building Industry Association.

Cameron and Starwood are no strangers when it comes to partnerships. Fieldstone entered the master development business back in 2002, partnering with Starwood to buy more than 700 acres of land in Riverside County.