By: Ben van der Meer
Sacramento Business Journal

About 50 unimproved lots in an unincorporated part of Sacramento County are now available, eight years after the original builder decided not to pursue a homebuilding project on them.

The Sienna lots, near the northeast intersection of Elk Grove/Florin Road and Calvine Road, are ready for construction once a builder pulls permits, said Jim Radler, senior marketing consultant at Land Advisors Organization.

Originally, Ryland Homes planned to build on the lots during the region’s boom in home construction around 2005, but the company held off as the market turned south. Radler said Ethan Conrad Properties acquired the lots around 2007, as Ryland pulled out of the Sacramento market entirely.

“He’s been holding onto it ever since, waiting for the rebound,” Radler said. “We finally have a rebound.”

In recent months, tight inventory and low interest rates have sent housing prices shooting upward, so builder interest in the lots should be strong, Radler said.

“They’re building at a pretty good clip, so there’s a real need for lots to build on,” he said. Earlier this month, Radler’s company handled the sale of 79 lots in the Natoma Valley subdivision in northeast Folsom to Texas builder D.R. Horton.

Radler said Conrad also owned those lots, but came to acquire them through a foreclosure rather than outright buying them, as the company did for the Sienna lots.

Offers for the Sienna lots will be taken through April 10. Radler said the lots are at least 50 feet by 80 feet and in some cases 50 by 100 feet, and the area is served by Elk Grove schools, though it’s not within city limits.

“It should command a pretty good price,” he said.

Ben van der Meer covers real estate, development, local and regional planning, construction, transportation, agriculture and water for the Sacramento Business Journal.