Hovnanian guns for NJ development restart 2+ years after halt due to market conditions

Ara Hovnanian, president and CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises

K. Hovnanian Enterprises’ 108-home development in Montvale, NJ is set to restart construction in the next 30 days after postponing work due to market conditions in 2007, a company spokesperson said.  

Although Hovnanian had begun the land development on the project, the builder decided to shelve the plans in an effort to hit the market during a more amenable time. It was not immediately clear when the project was first launched. 

Doug Fenichel, a Hovnanian spokesperson, said that financing the project was never an issue and that it currently has all the proper permits. 

“The market just wasn’t right,” Fenichel said. “We looked at the project… and decided to wait until people were willing to buy homes again.” 

The nine-building development, a “resort at home living” community geared toward the over-55 set, will include a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse. Hovnanian hasn’t named asking prices yet. 

While Fenichel said Hovnanian is confident that this strategy will work, he said the company hasn’t held off on other relatively recent developments in the area, with the exception of a Trenton project in which financing had been a consideration. 

“Our communities are up and running,” Fenichel said. “When the market turned we were able to maintain.” 

He said that the Montvale development was singled out, in part, because of its location. 

“Montvale is… great,” Fenichel said, “but we also knew that we wanted to wait for when people would be willing to take advantage of what we had to offer.”

The news comes on the heels Hovnanian’s first quarter profit, ending a 13-consecutive-quarter losing streak.