Some of the brightest minds in the homebuilding industry will share their experience and insights at The ULI Industry Leaders and Managers Spring Program featuring Leaders in Planned Communities, Residential Design & Urban Infill. The first class was held on Wednesday, April 6th and will continue on Wednesday evenings until May 18th.
Moderated by John Martin of Martin & Associates, the program will feature some of the most influential leaders in the homebuilding industry and cover a variety of topics, including career paths, lessons learned, company culture, current market trends, and their vision for the future.
The program was kicked off by Tom Redwitz, Chief Operating Office of The New Home Company. Introduced as a design leader, Tom always knew he wanted to be a part of the building industry and is a licensed architect. His father was a craftsman who provided Tom a terrific foundation to learn the beauty of construction from the ground up. Their garage had every kind of tool imaginable and Tom, with his own tool belt, loved creating, fixing, tinkering whenever he could. There aren’t a lot of COO’s that are able to say “When something needed to be made or fixed, I’d get my tool belt and get it done.”
“It is very rewarding to do something you love, to build upon your experience and develop your expertise,” advised Tom. “Even though homebuilding can be the jack of all trades, you need to develop an expertise in something that you can apply to homebuilding. Applying those skills you have learned and enjoyed over the years can be very gratifying as well as rewarding.
While, most importantly, the relationships you make along the way help you realize your real, authentic potential. Nurture those relationships and keep them alive as new opportunities rarely come along by coincidence. Complimentary skill sets and relationships both play a key role when forming a team.”
As one of the founders of The New Home Company and in his current position, Tom provides strategic direction for the company and oversees all product development, sales and marketing, the Design Studio and construction/community care. He has more than 25 years of experience in real estate entitlement, development, architecture and construction. A licensed architect, Tom is known as a leader in new home design and has been recognized with multiple industry awards.
He previously served as the President of Laing Luxury Homes, a division of John Laing Homes. Under his direction, Laing Luxury grew to become one of the most respected builders in the luxury home market and produced over $1 billion in revenue.
In addition to his accomplishments at John Laing Homes, Tom served at Taylor Woodrow for six years (1996-2002) where he was the Division President, and worked nearly 10 years as an executive for The Irvine Company. The Building Industry Association of Southern California awarded Tom Builder of the Year for 2012.
One of Tom’s most valuable experiences came from working for Irvine Pacific and The Irvine Company. “The company was design conscious and a hot bed of innovation,” said Tom. “They have a special, inspirational culture that is fun, energizing and they know the importance of team building.” Tom took this knowledge and experience with him in all his future endeavors, understanding the power of a collaborative, inspiring, fostering and rewarding culture.
During a strong market in 1987, he along with three colleagues decided they wanted to create a building company of their own and launched Inland Pacific Communities. With aspirations to be the JM Peters of the Inland Empire, the company grew to almost 40 people before the market turned, causing them to close their doors. Tom’s was quickly offered a position with The Irvine Company leading the land development team and responsible for 12 non-contiguous pieces of property in Newport Beach, and is a prime example of the importance of lasting relationships.
Coming out of the recession in 1995, Richard Pope, CEO of Taylor Woodrow invited Tom to join the team and lead the Southern California builder, developing properties from Valencia to San Diego. Another reminder of how important relationships are, Taylor Woodrow partnered with
DMB on a property in San Diego, known as Santaluz, and today, because of the appreciation of his business ethics, The New Home Company is now partnering with DMB in Arizona.
His experience with Taylor Woodrow and luxury homebuilding lead Tom to Larry Webb at John Laing Homes, which was known at the time for affordably priced homes. Larry asked Tom to join them to start Laing Luxury Homes and serve as President. The successful company was purchased by EMAR in 2006 with the goal to become the largest homebuilder in the U.S. was quickly realized. Unfortunately, when the music stopped in 2007 and EMAR filed for bankruptcy, the team became but a few.
s they say, when one door closes another opens. Approached by TIC to become a fee builder on the ranch, Tom, along with Larry Webb, Wayne Stellmar and Joseph Davis, founded The New Home Company in 2009 and quickly went to work, delivering their first project in Woodbury, Irvine. The company was founded on a unique and flexible business model being wholly owned with fee building and joint venture developments, enabling them to offer great product diversity. Different by design from a corporate, cultural and product perspective, the management and operating teams are hand-picked. They are design focused and consumer driven, understanding the difference it makes to always listen to what the buyer wants and at what price point.
The company’s home deliveries have grown from 57 in 2010 to 950 in 2015. Today, their average price point is $1.9 million, yet are actively adding to their diversity with lower priced product in the $400,000-$700,000 range at the Great Park Irvine and Rancho Mission Viejo. Importance is given to the Design Studio, a profit center with a satellite office at each project, as they help build the relationship between the construction team, the sales team and the buyers. The company has won numerous awards for overall customer service and best place to work, along with six communities of the year awards and best master planned community of the year for The Cannery.
“Most importantly, The New Home Company builds each home from the heart,” said Tom. “We hold ourselves to a higher standard, caring about how the home looks, feels and lives, and why a particular piece of land was chosen. Our homes are an expression of the knowledge we have about how people want to live. We are focused on our mission to Build A Better Life.”
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