When Utah's Woodside Homes Corp. expanded to Las Vegas in 1988, company officials knew it would be a challenge to compete with larger, more established homebuilders in the area.
When the company sold out a 141-unit subdivision at Desert Shores just four months after opening its model homes, Nevada homebuilders began taking notice of the Salt Lake-based company. Woodside Homes of Nevada, with four developments to its credit, has become the 10th largest builder in Nevada."We found we can compete against them just fine. You have to do a lot of homework. You can't just show up down there and compete," said Leonard K. Arave, vice president of Woodside Homes Corp. and Atherton Construction, in a recent interview.
Founded in 1977 by one-time investment banker Ezra Nilson, the company survived the building slump of the 1980s by diversifying and moving about the West as opportunities developed. In its first years, the business was based in Ogden and built homes primarily in Weber and Davis counties.
Unlike many builders who suffered from bad timing, Nilson profited from the energy boom of the early 1980s. In 1982, he expanded the single-family home construction business to Evanston, Wyo., to help accommodate the housing needs of hundreds of people moving to the area.
"A lot of people didn't get out of Evanston with their shirts. You made a lot of money but when the market went out, it went out fast," Arave said.
Nilson, on the other hand, weathered the boom and bust quite well."That created the base for the future growth we had," he said.
In 1986, Nilson started Atherton Construction. The construction company handles government renovation projects such as remodeling military housing units throughout the western United States. The company is currently handling jobs in Washington, California, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado.
The company opened Woodside Homes of Nevada in 1988 and started Woodside Homes of Arizona in Phoenix earlier this year.
The business is building in 16 communities. In Utah, the Woodside Homes is opening new subdivisions in South Jordan, Linden, Pleasant Grove, South Jordan, Centerville and Layton. Woodside Homes and Atherton Construction employ about 100 people.
The company is beginning to attract national attention in terms of construction growth and revenue increases. The trade journal Professional Builder & Remodeler ranked Woodside Homes the 141st largest homebuilder in the nation for 1991 in terms of revenue. A year ago, the company ranked 344th on the magazine's list.
According to the July issue of the magazine, the company's 1991 revenues totaled more than $65 million. The company sold 502 single family homes and performed nearly $9 million in remodeling jobs.
The company's revenues climbed some $36 million from 1990 to 1991, an overall increase of 131 percent.
"1990 was the first year we made the list. We were real surprised. We felt we hit the big time," Arave said. "I think we have a pretty good staff of people to help us grow."
Much of the company's success will depend upon Woodside Homes' ability to carefully select building markets. Phoenix for instance, has been in a building slump for the past three years.
It is considered an off year in Phoenix if builders construct 11,000 to 12,000 units, compared to a good year in Utah when 6,000 to 7,000 are built. "Even in a a bad year, their market does substantially better than Utah," he said.
As for Utah, Arave said he forsees continued growth in Davis and Utah counties as well as the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. While the company has no immediate plans to expand in the St. George area, the Woodside Homes' Las Vegas operation could serve that burgeoning area as well.
"There's (buildable) ground. The biggest problem is do we have the infrastructure to go along with it?"