New Homes & Lifestyles

Builder Profile - Robson Communities

Back in the 1960s when Ed Robson began working in the homebuilding industry, Arizona—including the Phoenix area—was still an out of the way place with low population density. Sunshine was the Valley’s most valuable commodity, and Robson and partners ventured to take advantage of it with their vision to create a vibrant retirement/resort community in the East Valley.

In 1972, Sun Lakes Marketing Limited Partnership acquired 2,560 acres in the Chandler area, and the dream began to unfold. With additional land purchases, Sun Lakes today encompasses 3,500 acres, which include five 18-hole golf courses, five clubhouses, two shopping centers, a medical and education center, an extensive system of lakes and walking paths, and numerous other amenities.

Ed Robson then repeated what he accomplished at Sun Lakes with other planned communities—six in Arizona and one in Texas. Robson Communities, of which he is founder and chairman, continues to be known for upscale communities with country club amenities for the active adult home buyer.

“We started the project in 1975 and 1976 during the energy crisis when people were lining up at the gas stations to buy gas,” Robson says. “We had a mobile home community out here but not ‘stick’ housing, and we were having some difficulties because people didn’t want to buy gas and drive 30 miles out to see the project.” The hard times made it possible for Robson to buy out his partners “with a couple of promises,” and he took over.

“We started very slowly. Land prices went up a little bit and as the price increased, we had some borrowing capacity, which allowed us to get into the stick-build house business.” Robson did just that, and the rest is history. Now sold out, Sun Lakes is comprised of approximately 10,000 homes.

Next, the company moved on to its SaddleBrooke project in north Tucson. “We first started building homes there in ’78, and the least expensive home was $29,999,” says Robson. “That same house today would sell for about $280.”

Robson believes active adult communities hold value because of their residents. “These people have a lot of pride in their yards and communities,” he says. “You can go to Sun City—the original one, which started in ‘58—and you can still see that pride in the way they keep up the homes. We have the same thing here.”

Building Distinction
Robson Communities has built over 23,000 homes, and more than 35,000 people live in its communities. Part of the company’s success lies in continually looking for ways to make its homes distinctive.

“That’s where the amenities come into play—where you can differentiate yourself from everyone else,” says Executive Vice President Steve Soriano. “The more established builders and developers offer lifestyle and amenities—the golf courses, the fitness centers, the indoor pool, the outdoor pool, the clubs, the competitions and contests—and that helps you differentiate.”

Because people’s tastes change over time, so do the amenities in Robson’s communities. “If you look at the clubhouses this company built in 1973—they didn’t have a fitness center; they had a large bar and card room, and that was appropriate for the time,” Soriano says. “By the 1990s, fitness centers were the core of the communities. Our fitness centers have now grown to 15,000 square feet and have indoor pool complexes and outdoor pool complexes, massage rooms, saunas, nail salons and hair salons.”

He adds that the trend toward adding lounges with bars to clubhouses is growing again because people want to socialize without leaving home. “The communities have evolved into a true resort feel, except rather than than renting a room, you get to own the home in the resort,” he says, “and you don’t have to drive.”

How does Robson decide which amenities will appeal to home buyers? “We’re very fortunate that we have a group of 20,000 past customers who are very excited about telling us which amenities they want in the future. We listen to them and we build those amenities,” Soriano says.

An example of this was when residents of one community expressed the desire for a slope floor auditorium where musical groups, comedians and theater groups could perform. Now, Soriano says major label artists are coming into the community to perform.

Residents of Robson’s various communities must be at least 40 years old, and no one under 19 can have permanent residence. “It’s not that we don’t love kids,” says Soriano. “In fact, in some of our newer communities we have kiddy pools, but because we don’t have schools in the communities and don’t have school buses, no one under 19 can be here for permanent residence.” Grandkids, of course, are welcome to visit and stay with grandma and grandpa.

A Changing Market
Soriano believes this is an exciting time in the new homes market. “The housing market in Phoenix was robust over the last seven or eight years and there was a commodity of houses,” he says. “Houses started to look alike. Many of the same craftsmen started to build together and design together and then priced similarly.”

Now, he says, the slower market has forced builders to become innovative once again. “We have new model complexes opening up in each of our communities that reflect tremendously different floor plans, housing features and amenities than we had five years ago,” Soriano says.

As an example, in homes at Robson’s new Saddlebrooke Ranch community north of Tucson, the new outdoor living areas are expansive. “They’re triple the size of what they previously were, and that is a direct result of us trying to differentiate ourselves from the other builders,” he says. “Unfortunately, because homebuilding became such a commodity, patios became very small.”

Soriano adds that another cost cutter for many homebuilders in the past seven or eight years has been the level of appliances they put into houses. “We are taking an entirely different approach,” he says. “We’ve taken our base cabinets and appliances and moved them up three or four notches, because we have to differentiate ourselves. If we’re the same as everyone else, people may not come out and see us.”

Amenities such as indoor and outdoor pools and fitness centers with state of the art equipment in Robson’s communities are ideal for people who may have worked the last 30 or 40 years in an accounting or law practice and didn’t have a chance to be as physically fit or as active as they wanted to be. “Now they’re moving into one of our communities, and it gives them time to get back in shape,” Soriano says.

Among most of their buyers, at least one spouse continues to work, so Robson Communities now wires the homes for high-speed telecommunications and internet access. Robson Ranch even offers professional suites. “Just because you’re moving into a resort community, it doesn’t mean you’re retired,” says Soriano.

He says Robson’s newest community, Robson Ranch Arizona off I-10 between Casa Grande and Eloy, is the evolution of everything the company learned about their homeowners and how they live.

More than 1,600 people are employed at Robson Communities, making the company one of the largest privately owned employers in Arizona. The success of Robson Communities has not gone unnoticed by the homebuilding industry and its peers. Numerous honors have been bestowed on the company throughout the years. Honoring his four decades as a homebuilder, the National Association of Home Builders presented Ed Robson with its “Icon of the Industry” award in 2006.