Crown West Realty

Tucson, AZ – Petrus Partners Ltd. (“Petrus”) has acquired the Gladden Farms master-planned community, which includes 500 undeveloped residential lots in Phase I, and in Phase II, 370 acres of entitled residential land planned for 2,345 residential units and 123 acres of commercial property. Gladden Farms is located in the town of Marana, 24 miles northwest of the Tucson central business district. The seller was the Forest City Land Group, a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (“Forest City”). Gladden Farms is Petrus’ 13th residential land acquisition in Arizona since 2008.

Forest City launched Gladden Farms in 2003 and developed within the master-planned community attractive amenities including trails, parks, baseball fields and other recreational facilities. During the past decade, Gladden Farms achieved great market acceptance as homebuilders constructed over 1,100 single-family homes. Pulte Homes, Lennar Homes and MDC-Richmond American Homes all operate active subdivisions within Gladden Farms, with new homes ranging today from $175,000 to $250,000. In 2007, Forest City also sold a 58-acre hospital campus site in Gladden Phase II to Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH). Over 40 acres of additional commercial land has been sold to retail developers.

Marana is home to the 250-room Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Resort and its Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. Marana and the nearby Town of Oro Valley have been among Tucson’s best-performing submarkets in recent years, representing approximately one-third of Tucson’s new home sales and a majority of house sales exceeding $300,000.

With the closing of the Gladden Farms sale, Mr. Dean Wingert, Senior Vice President of the Forest City Land Group, has joined the Petrus Group as Vice President of Crown West Realty and head of Crown West Land Group. Mr. Wingert brings over three decades of experience in residential land development; during 26 years with Forest City, he oversaw development of master-planned communities within the metropolitan areas of Tucson, Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Albuquerque, and San Antonio. Additionally, Mr. OK Rihl, Director of New Development at Forest City Land Group, will join Crown West as a development manager. The Crown West Land Group’s Tucson, Arizona office is located at 333 E. Wetmore Road, Suite 250.

Petrus Partners is the parent company of Crown West Realty, LLC (“Crown West”), a full-service real estate investment, development, and management firm with offices in New York City, Phoenix, Denver, Tucson and Spokane. The Petrus Partners-Crown West Group manages a series of discretionary investment funds totaling over $300 million of equity including $100 million dedicated to value-added investments in residential land. The Group owns and manages 6,000 residential lots and eight million square feet of office, industrial, and mixed-use properties nationwide.

Petrus seeks additional investment opportunities in residential lots and entitled and un-entitled land in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Potential acquisition candidates should be submitted to Frank Walter, President of Petrus Partners, frankwalter@petruspartners.com. Inquiries about Gladden Farms, including residential lot and land acquisition opportunities, should be submitted to Dean Wingert, dwingert@crownwest.com.