Housing Giants - September 10, 2008 - (Page 10) moves News & Moves By Jennifer Powell, Staff Writer Florida is Ground Zero For HousinG’s Fall When Bonita Springs, Fla.-based WCI Communities filed for bankruptcy protection last month — listing $2.18 billion in assets and $1.92 billion in debts — it reinforced Florida’s position at the vortex of the housing market crash that now engulfs most of the nation. Publicly held WCI is the third Florida-based giant of epic proportions to fall into bankruptcy in less than a year. The first was Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Levitt & Sons, the venerable pioneer of production building, which filed in November 2007 but still showed up this year in Professional Builder’s Giant 400 at No. 69, with $359.7 million in 2007 housing revenues on 1,116 closings. Next came Hollywood, Fla.-based Technical Olympic USA, which filed in January, Taylor Morrison Moves HeadquarTers Taylor Morrison has moved its corporate headquarters westward to Scottsdale, Ariz. The plan is to have the home CEO Sheryl Palmer base closer to its stronger markets, which are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. davis HoMes sTops operaTions Indianapolis-based Davis Homes stopped operations in late July, the company said in a press release on its Web site. The firm also noted it secured warranty insurance and arranged for regular maintenance. The company is currently looking for other home builders to complete its neighborhoods. 10 HOUSING GIANTS.9.10.08 www.HOUSINGGIANTS.cOm http://www.wcicommunities.com/default.asp?pageID=home&siteID=1000&vid=1000&url=www.wcicommunities.com&col=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/business/03abandon.html http://www.housingzone.com/ProBuilder/index.asp?layout=giants http://www.tousa.com/ http://my.davishomes.com/temp/ http://www.taylormorrison.com http://www.Housinggiants.com
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