Landsea enters Colorado homebuilding market with sights set on growth

LONGMONT — Dallas-headquartered residential developer Landsea Homes Corp. (Nasdaq: LSEA) has jumped feet-first into the Colorado market with the acquisition of Longmont’s Richfield Homes and expects to soon grow into one of the Centennial State’s Top 10 builders. 

Richfield, founded about 11 years ago in Berthoud by William Edgington and Serge Goldberg, was traditionally a “small private builder focused on Northern Colorado,” with most construction occurring along the Interstate 25 corridor north of Denver, said Lisa Wiebelhaus, who joined Richfield in 2016 to lead sales efforts and soon became a co-owner of the businesses. She will serve as the president of Landsea’s new Colorado division.

Over the past decade-plus, the company built about 200 homes a year, almost all of which were single-family or paired homes.

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In the Landsea era, the plan is to boost production and expand the builder’s construction footprint. “There are lots of opportunities still in Northern Colorado, but also along the E-470 corridor, Commerce City, Aurora, Parker, down into Douglas County and Castle Rock,” Wiebelhaus told BizWest. 

In addition to its new Colorado division, Landsea operates in New York, Arizona, Florida, Texas and California. 

“We are very excited about this transaction, as it provides Landsea with a unique opportunity to establish a presence in one of the best housing markets in the country,” Landsea CEO John Ho said in a prepared statement.

About 30 employees, nearly the entire Richfield staff, will move with the company to Landsea. Edgington and Goldberg, however, will not join the new company.

“Our goal is to become a Top 10 homebuilder in the state,” Wiebelhaus said. “So with that will come growth, which means we will be increasing the number of employees.”

She predicts that Landsea’s Colorado operation could employ double the current headcount in the next few years. 

That growth could put some strain on the company’s Kimbark Street office space. “We’re bursting at the seams, so we’ll need to find a new location,” Wiebelhaus said. 

Exactly where Landsea’s Colorado division will wind up officing remains to be determined, but “we’ll keep in mind geographic locations … that are convenient not only to our employees but also our customers.”

The acquisition by Landsea came about when Richfield’s leaders “started having discussions about bringing a capital partner to be able to grow the business a little bit more,” Wiebelhaus said. Through that process, the company hired a financial adviser, who eventually connected Richmark to Landsea. 

“They were a wonderful fit for Richfield,” she said. “We have the same values, the same ideas about employees and culture. It was a really great opportunity for us to sell our assets to Landsea.”