The Jacksonville division of large national homebuilder KB Home acquired 700 developed and undeveloped lots in 14 communities in the Northeast Florida region on Thursday from Jacksonville-based Landon Homes.
KB Home and Landon officials declined to share financial details Deeds were not immediately recorded.
However, Landon's roughly 50 employees were offered positions with KB Home, which was founded in 1957 and has built nearly 600,000 homes, according to the company website.
The purchase includes nearly the entire holdings of Landon Homes, said Landon co-owner Jesse Killebrew, who helped found the company in 2012. There are only a couple of small developments with a few home lots that remain.
The president of KB's local division, Todd Holder, said this deal almost doubled the division's existing community count of 16, taking them to a total of 30, and that they still want to acquire more land.
“We continue to hope to add to our portfolio,” Holder said. “This is a great opportunity for us. It gives us the ability to enhance our brand here.”
The 14 Landon communities include neighborhoods in St. Johns and Flagler counties, with the southernmost being Ashford Lakes Estates at Hunter's Ridge near Ormond Beach to the northernmost being Eagle's Cove in Palm Valley.
“It was the right time,” Killebrew said when asked why they decided to sell. “The market's good and things are good. I don't want to sell when things are bad. I went through the whole recession ... and my gut said it was time to go.”
Killebrew, a real estate broker, also owns Alsop Companies, which is a property management and land development company based in St. Augustine, and that he hopes to continue selling to companies like KB Home.
In addition to KB's area division, the firm has 210 communities across its regions nationwide.
KB officials said Landon's flags and signage should be switched to KB Home by the end of next week.
KB listed its 2015 revenues at $3.03 billion on its website, adding that it was the first homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange.