One of the country’s top master-planned communities is breaking sales records, thanks to its focus on quality-built homes affordable to working-class Californians. Otay Ranch in San Diego enjoyed a 254% surge in sales last year compared to 2016, the highest rate of any MPC in the U.S.
Multiple new communities opened in 2017 in the Baldwin & Sons masterplan offering a range of relatively affordable product in a supply-starved market, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Pacific Coast Communities, Heritage Building & Development, and Sunrise Company sold a combined total of 563 homes in the development last year.
Here, BUILDER talks with Melissa Hazlett, vice president of sales and marketing for Baldwin & Sons, about the 19-year-old community’s perennial popularity.
Tell us about Otay Ranch.
Otay Ranch officially opened in 1999 and has consistently been one of the region’s top selling communities ever since. In total, Baldwin related entities have built, and are building, around 12,000 homes on more than 2,500 acres within seven unique villages.
The community combines the best of traditional American neighborhoods with the latest in community design. There’s a small-town character to it, and it features numerous pedestrian parks, swim facilities, an extensive network of trails, paseos, and promenade streets. The community is situated just 7.5 miles from downtown San Diego, allowing residents easy access to jobs and vibrant city amenities.
What types of buyers are moving to Otay Ranch?
Otay Ranch attracts a high percentage of military, government, and healthcare workers. All three of these sectors are highly active in the area and in need of quality housing. In fact, these groups comprise approximately 76% of our buyer pool, which is a testament to how influential these groups are in this part of San Diego county.
To what do you attribute the large increase in sales?
We believe that our surge in sales has a lot to do with our robust offering of communities that give buyers a full range of home sizes and types to choose from at varying price points. The master plan at-large caters to the region’s families, however, our vast home options draw in families of different sizes, make-ups, and needs.
We also attribute our sales numbers to the market research we complete regularly, which ensures that what we are offering in our new homes is aligned with what buyers in the region are seeking, as well as what they can afford. We always keep in mind that our buyers are really educated and are looking for a lot of value in the homes they select. We make sure we are delivering that value.
How do you reach out to buyers?
Our sales and marketing team has found that digital advertising, email campaigns, and social media marketing have become integral ways to attract the attention of buyers. These newer tools give us a means for getting the word out about new community and model openings as well as any other events that we hold in our communities. That is really important because it encourages stronger foot traffic. We also don’t shy away from tried-and-true ways to reach buyers. We nurture realtor relationships, use classic tools like Trulia and MLS, and still place print ads in local newspapers because all of these strategies still work.
What do you have planned for the future?
Short term we will be starting construction on the residential portion of the mixed use Otay Ranch Town Center project and starting development on the western sub-area of the Village of Montecito, a hilltop neighborhood of single-family homes and lower-density attached homes. More long term, we are working on the entitlements for Otay Ranch Village 13. This project consists of mostly larger-lot single-family homes overlooking the Otay Lakes.
