Skyline Comes into View for Homebuyers

There’s a brand-new Skyline on the horizon in Santa Clarita. Starting its rollout in 2019, Skyline Ranch will feature 450 master-planned acres to include 1,220 single family lots. The development also promises 25 open space lots and 10 park lots, including a 9-acre central park. About 290 lots of housing will be devoted to a 55 years-or-older-skewing community. Santa Clarita Planning Commission recently approved the annexation of land for the development. Known as the Plum Canyon Annexation Area and including Plum Canyon and North Sand Canyon, the land amendment will cede 3,117 acres of unincorporated Los Angeles County property to Santa Clarita. Senior City Planner Patrick Leclair told the Business Journal that local support for the annexation was a slam dunk. “We sent out surveys (to area homeowners) as well to the property owners of Skyline Ranch,” Leclair said, noting “77 percent in favor of annexation to the city.” The annexed land now goes before the Santa Clarita City Council on April 24 before continuing to the Local Agency Formation Commission, Leclair explained. Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission approved Skyline Ranch, which will occupy the largest portion of the annexation area, back in 2010. To be located west of Sierra Highway, east of Plum Canyon Road and south of Bouquet Canyon and Vasquez Canyon roads, Skyline will offer homes ranging from 2,000 to 3,300 square feet. With Skyline, developer Pardee Homes is setting out to “give the buyers a greater outdoor relationship,” said Dave Little, president of the builder’s L.A./Ventura division. “This is the largest master plan that we’ve done in a while, but we’re used to communities of this scale,” Little said, recalling Pardee’s Fair Oaks, which created more than 1,600 houses in Santa Clarita. Constructing the development has included such innovative approaches as an on-site rock-crushing machine, generating 300,000 tons of gravel for everything from roadways to drainage and bypassing thousands of truck trips through town. Aptly named because it will boast the highest elevation of any Santa Clarita Valley community, Skyline, with a completion date of 2025, will also feature a road linking Sierra Highway to Whites Canyon, and access to L.A.-bound Metrolink trains. Pardee has broken ground on Skyline’s recreational center complex, due for a fall grand opening. Street Wise On March 28, Los Angeles City Council voted to re-do six major thoroughfares in Greater Los Angeles, and one-third of these troublesome streets are in the San Fernando Valley: Roscoe and Reseda boulevards. These pilot fixes will serve as a blueprint on how to fine-tune L.A.’s roadways as outlined by the city’s Vision Zero 2025, which vows to eliminate all traffic-related deaths in seven years. At Reseda Boulevard, from Parthenia Street to Victory Boulevard in Winnetka, the city approved $12.8 million to fund 6.2 lane miles of street reconstruction and resurfacing, including crosswalk installation, curb extensions, striping modifications, signal phasing, timing changes and bonus bike lanes. The city also earmarked nearly $5.4 million for 3.4 lane miles of Roscoe Boulevard roadwork from the 405 to Woodman Avenue in Panorama City. Speed feedback signs and protected left turns will be added while traffic signals and crosswalks will be upgraded. “Los Angeles Department of Transportation is supporting the Bureau of Engineering on designs for Reseda and Roscoe, but our design approach is very context-sensitive, based on the unique needs of the neighborhoods,” Vision Zero’s Lilly O’Brien told the Business Journal. “We will follow the lead of the local council offices, based on their long-term priorities.” Both road projects will wrap in 2019. High Rent Generation Millennials earn and spend more on rent than any generation prior, according to a study by real estate website Rent Café, which is owned by Yardi Matrix in Scottsdale, Ariz. Younger millennials pay more rent than older ones, the study found. By age 30, millennial will spend $93,000 on rent while Generation Z is forecasted to shell out $102,000 in rent by their third decade. The study utilized Census data and rental rates for multifamily housing in major U.S. metro areas. Rent Café defined generations by the following year-of-birth ranges: baby-boomers, born between 1946 and 1964; generation Xers, born 1965 through 1976; millennials, 1977 through 1995; and gen Z, post-1996. Factors contributing to the higher rent spend trend include more student loan debt than previous generations plus soaring housing prices. Staff Reporter Michael Aushenker can be reached at [email protected] or (818) 316-3123.