Arizona Builder Stays on Buying Spree

PHOENIX-Local developer Garth Wieger, who has headed three of Arizona’s largest multifamily and single-family homebuilders in the past decade, has announced plans to purchase Hancock Communities, the No. 7 builder in metropolitan Phoenix.

The deal comes just a week after GlobeSt.com discovered that Wieger is part of an investment group that has purchased a 5% stake in locally based Del Webb Corp., one of the nation’s largest developers of retirement communities.

The deal for Hancock Communities is expected to close by the end of September. The name will change to Journey Homes, the name of Wieger’s homebuilding company. Though the purchase price wasn’t disclosed, Wieger says the funds to finance the acquisition are coming from both local and institutional investors.

Wieger headed up Shea Homes in the mid-1990s before orchestrating a turn-around of UDC Homes, which he led out of bankruptcy. He also ran locally Blandford Homes for a short time.