Van Daele Homes nabs loan to start on sprawling Deerlake Ranch development

Van Daele Homes secured a $29 million construction loan to break ground on part of a long-stalled 230-acre gated community development just outside Chatsworth.

The Contra Costa County-based company is developing the first 53 homes part of the 314-home Deerlake Ranch development, a master-planned community by Foremost Communities.

Deerlake Ranch was first approved by county officials a decade and a half ago but was put on ice amid the recession and has sat undeveloped since.

Foremost is developing the larger Deerlake Ranch project with Starwood Capital Group, but the joint venture is partnering with other developers to build the six “neighborhoods” part of the master plan.

Chinese homebuilder Landsea is among the other developers building portions of the master plan. In January, the firm started selling the 107 townhomes at its Copperleaf at IronRidge community in Lake Forest, a city in southern Orange County.

Van Daele’s 30-acre slice at the southeast corner of the site is called Ridgepoint. Wells Fargo provided the construction loan, records show. Van Daele looks to open a model home by May and complete Ridgepoint by late fall, a representative said.

Newport Beach-based Foremost Communities and Starwood purchased the 230-acre Deerlake Ranch site in 2014 from Presidio Chatsworth Partners, which secured county approval for the project in 2004.

It’s one of the few remaining large development properties in the area, sitting on a hillside just off the 118 Freeway.

Following the 2014 sale, Foremost Communities President Steve Cameron told the Los Angeles Times that the homes across Deerlake Ranch would each be priced in the $1.2 million-$1.7 million range. They’ll range from around 3,000 square feet to 4,600 square feet.

The master plan includes 4.3 miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding that will connect to the regional trails in the neighboring Santa Susana Mountains.