Tejon, DMB Associates Sign Resort Deal

Tejon Ranch chose the partnership with DMB for reasons that included the Arizona company's track record as a developer of resort and recreational projects as well as its success in collaborating with and reaching consensus with major conservation groups, according to Robert Stine, president and CEO of Tejon Ranch Co. One feature of Tejon Mountain Village will be a 23,000-acre nature reserve.

The joint venture that will develop the project is called Tejon Mountain Village LLC. It will spend the next several months with planning and entitlement efforts, according to Drew Brown, managing director and CEO of DMB Associates.

In the signing of the joint venture agreement and in earlier announcements regarding the JV, both companies have emphasized that sensitivity to the environment will be a key feature of the Tejon Mountain Village project, which will be developed on some of the most pristine terrain in Southern California. The development of the 5,000-acre project will enable the previously mentioned 23,000 acres of Tejon's holdings to be held in a nature reserve.

The development of the Tejon Mountain Village is part of the Tejon Ranch master plan, which includes a 100,000-acre preserve that the company has established along with the Trust for Public Land. Other elements of the master plan include the expansion of Tejon Industrial Complex and the building of the new town of Centennial, for which it is partnered with Pardee Homes, Standard Pacific Homes and Lewis Investment Co.

Publicly held Tejon Ranch Co. is a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company, whose principal asset is its 270,000-acre land holding located approximately 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield. DMB is one of the most active community developers in the West, with properties in Arizona, California, Utah and Hawaii.