Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 | Re: “In Slow Times, Homebuilders Look to Cities for Help,” by Kelly Bennett, October 15.
In the 1970s, my aunt inherited some prime property in San Clemente. She teamed with a developer to build luxury condos. After a long approval process, construction began. But soon the housing marked turned bad. The developer couldn’t finish the buildings; he went out of business and my aunt lost her property. The city didn’t bail them out.
Which is as it should be.
The current and future residents of Santee shouldn’t be bailing-out the Lennar Corporation. Housing development is a calculated risk. Timing is everything. It’s too bad, but that’s the risk Lennar took.
Of course, as predicted, Santee may be saddled with a horrifically ugly, partially completed development visible from almost everywhere in the city. But eventually the market will turn-around and some other developer will be able to complete it as the city approved it. And hopefully before that happens, the tons of new infill on Rattlesnake Mountain won’t come sliding down. But if it does, Santee Mayor Randy Voepel will have his wish that Santee be just like La Jolla.