Cisneros teams with builder on “urban villages”

Former HUD Secretary and major builder Kaufman and Broad join forces to construct housing in cities. Prompted by the wave of revitalization efforts sweeping American cities, Henry Cisneros and Kaufman and Broad have formed a joint venture company, America CityVista. The company will focus on building affordable housing on infill sites in Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and California. The joint venture intends to create communities with integrity and coherence, Cisneros says. “Our task will be to identify sites that are large enough to build 80, 100, 120 or so homes that can constitute an area that can stand on its own, that can fight for better schools, that can have an identity and be a presence in the fabric of the city or the neighborhood.” He adds that the new communities should relate to mixed use in the vicinity. overlooked opportunities Bruce Karatz, chairman and CEO of Kaufman and Broad, states that the venture will seek development opportunities in areas that “have been overlooked by major homebuilders in the past.” “As HUD secretary I signed the Charter of the New Urbanism,” Cisneros says, “and we want to incorporate as many of those principles as possible. But this has to be tempered by the attempt to give people what they can afford. This is not about gentrification.” Kaufman and Broad’s experience in production techniques will allow the joint venture to keep costs down, Cisneros says. After identifying appropriate sites, American CityVista and Kaufman and Broad will collaborate on a community plan — deciding on general housing types, density, architectural styles, setbacks, and the design of garages. “Then we will launch this in the community, and American CityVista will spend a lot of time with community leaders in churches, in neighborhood meetings, at large employers, at homeownership fairs,” Cisneros says. “This will not be pre-dictated villages, but rather very reflective of the community’s taste and preferences.” As one of the largest builders in the US, Kaufman and Broad brings considerable financial clout to the joint venture. The company built 22,640 single-family homes in 1999 and has more than $2.6 billion in assets. Though mostly known for its work in suburban subdivisions, Kaufman and Broad has some experience building in urban areas. Spokesperson Amy Friend says the company has built on urban sites in Paris, France, for the last 30 years, and will use lessons learned there on infill sites in the US. American CityVista will be headquartered in San Antonio, where Cisneros served as mayor from 1981 to 1989. “Since we began operations in early September, I have been to Houston, Austin, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Santa Ana, California,” Cisneros says. “I have been tremendously encouraged by the response by public officials in all these places.”