Morrison Homes, the nation’s 30th largest homebuilder

Morrison Homes, the nation’s 30th largest homebuilder with revenues of $518 million and 2,639 units built in 1999, is expanding its work in traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs). The company began working in Celebration three years ago and has sold 150 homes in the Disney community near Orlando. The company is also selling neotraditional homes in six other developments. Two at least are TNDs and four appear to be hybrids. Neotraditional homes account for 12 percent of the firm’s total sales, and the company wants to increase that to 20 percent, according to John Rymer, vice president for marketing. Morrison Homes was a “second generation” production builder at Celebration. The initial builders had some well publicized problems with home construction and quality. The Celebration Company “made some modifications to the builder program, and that helped,” Rymer says. “The initial builders did not have an existing subbase. The market was expanding, making it very difficult to get good subcontractors. One of the reasons [the Celebration Company] asked us to participate is that we have a good subbase because we have a strong presence in the Orlando market. Overall, we feel that it has worked out well.”