Coleman and Barker shift their focus to investments

Since selling the business Barker Coleman Communities to Lennar Corp., a national homebuilder, in January, Brett Coleman has gone fishin'.

He's spent time with the family.

Savored the freedom.And launched into a new business, B&C Western Development, LLC., a corporation created in February, 2004, with partner Brett Barker.

"We'll be looking for land investment and other opportunities," he says."mostly investing, not so much development."

They won't be building residential properties.

Coleman and Barker have a five-year non-compete clause with Lennar.

They'll be investing in commercial and industrial land, says Coleman.

They can do entitlement work, too, and they'll be finalizing some land sales currently under way that will most likely result in residential development by other firms.

About 25 percent of Barker Coleman land was included in the sale of the business to Lennar, says Coleman.

The rest enough for about 10,000 houses in the Reno, Sparks, Dayton and Fernley areas is still owned by the partners.

Some of that land is spoken for.

According to Coleman, the sale of about 2,500 units is in the works, slated to be completed within the next 12 months.

"I suspect that we'll do more joint ventures with Lennar in the future, too," says Coleman.

The two entities are partnering in Pioneer Meadows, a 640-acre master-planned community in Sparks, and the future may hold further partnerships, says Coleman.

But overall, the new B&C Western Development is slated to stay relatively small.

"I want to maintain some of the freedom I just attained," says Coleman.