Housing slump, recession bring Horizon West land prices back down to earth

About 500 acres once headed toward foreclosure in southwest Orange County's ballyhooed Horizon West megadevelopment sold last week for $29 million -- less than half its price five years ago. In one of the largest land deals of the past year in Central Florida, Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group paid cash for the property, which contains 1,500 housing lots, about a third of which are ready for new homes. Summerlake Development, which bought the land in 2005 for more than $60 million and then poured millions of dollars into roads and utility lines, was facing foreclosure on $93 million in loans for the property. Mike Moser, east regional president of the affiliated Starwood Land Ventures, described the deal as "basically a short sale" that came together during the last quarter of 2010. "We can start selling lots immediately, bring in some new builders and add to the existing presence of Centerline Homes, which is the only builder there now. And we plan to add a pool and clubhouse," Moser said. "We will get that started as soon as possible."

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