Mitchell Hochberg, who founded the Spectrum firm in 1985, will continue to direct the company's operations as president and chief executive officer of WCI Spectrum Communities LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of WCI. The company's headquarters will remain in Valhalla. All of the company's 150 employees have now become part of the new venture.

"I believe that WCI and Spectrum Communities are a winning team. Our integrated talents and assets, combined with our customer-centric philosophies will propel us toward our goal of expansion throughout the Northeast," says Hochberg.

He adds that its affiliation with WCI, a publicly traded company that reported total revenues in 2003 of $1.5 billion, will provide WCI Spectrum a "fantastic platform for growth." Specifically, Hochberg says that his firm plans to expand its existing luxury home development base in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as well as enter the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts markets.

In addition, the company will also venture into luxury high-rise development ventures. Hochberg says that his firm is currently considering three high-rise developments--one along the Hudson River in New Jersey, another in Manhattan and another on Long Island. He would not divulge any further details on those possible projects.

"In many ways Spectrum Communities business mirrors that of WCI," says WCI president Jerry Starkey. "Our companies are both focused on creating a compelling value proposition by delivering to our customers high quality homes in superior lifestyle communities. Like WCI, many Spectrum customers are over 55, and about 40% of all Spectrum home buyers paid cash for their homes in 2003."

In less than 10 years, the Spectrum firm has been sold three times. In 1996 Spectrum was sold to Skanska Inc. Last May, Hochberg reacquired the company for $20 million. He says that Spectrum Communities was not on the market for sale and that he was approached by WCI about six months ago concerning a possible deal.