Fieldstone Gains $140 Million in Loans to Build 800 Homes

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA —  Newport Beach home builder Fieldstone Co. said Friday that it has obtained $140 million in bank loans to build more than 800 homes in Rancho Santa Margarita during the next five years.

“Banks are getting a lot more interested in doing business with home builders these days,” said Frank Foster, Fieldstone’s regional manager. “This financing is unique because it’s pretty large, and it’s for projects we plan to do down the road.”

Typically, builders secure financing for home construction phase by phase. The Fieldstone arrangement, by contrast, is for both current and future building, Foster said. The deal is notable too because banks have been hesitant to lend to developers in recent years because of the real estate downturn.

Fieldstone plans to build 250 to 300 homes a year in Rancho Santa Margarita, a 5,000-acre planned community, with money borrowed from Bank of America, First Interstate Bank and Continental Bank.

Fieldstone is already building 130 homes in The Vistas, a Rancho Santa Margarita development that opened in 1992. At completion, it will include 1,800 homes.