By Iris Richmond. In an effort to boost closings volume significantly, Colony Homes is taking a more thorough approach to land management. A concept introduced 18 months ago in the company’s Atlanta division, the purpose is to prevent lags between projects. It’s all about divvying up the workload to get more land deals to the table, explains Kenneth Alan Corbitt, president of Colony’s Charlotte, N.C., division and former operations manager in Atlanta.
“In the past,” he says, “we’ve run out of land to build on, which caused pauses between projects and forced us to carry people on as overhead.” By shifting land responsibilities from division heads to land managers, Colony intends to make the entire process more focused. Corbitt will still authorize all land purchases.
Colony attributes its Atlanta jump in closings — from 991 in 2000 to 1,380 last year — to two factors: the reallocation of land management duties and the addition of a regional manager.
Published in BIG BUILDER Magazine, October 2002
Tops in Charlotte | |
| Builder | 2001 Sales in units) |
| 1. NVR | 1,186 |
| 2. Ryland Homes | 843 |
| 3. Mulvaney Homes | 685 |
| 4. Pulte Homes | 575 |
| 5. Beazer Homes USA | 523 |
6. Crossmann Communities | 510 |
| 7. Colony Homes | 266 |
| Source: Meyers Group | |
| Aiming Higher: By employing better land planning, Colony Homes’ Charlotte division expects to increase its closings to 475 by the year 2003, an 80 percent increase over last year. | |