Del Webb Corp. and American Nevada Corp. Acquire North Las Vegas Land at BLM Auction

Business Wire, May 10, 2001

Business Editors

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2001

The Del Webb Corp. (NYSE:WBB) (PCX:WBB) and the American Nevada Corp. were the triumphant bidders at the Bureau of Land Management's land auction Wednesday for approximately 1,900 acres of land located in North Las Vegas. The winning bid was $47.2 million.

"We are very excited to be the winning bidder for this land," said Phil Peckman, chief operating officer, American Nevada. "We have spent a great deal of time and energy getting ready for this, and are very pleased the auction went our way."

At stake was approximately 1,900 acres of undeveloped land located in North Las Vegas. The land was owned by the federal government, which was charged with disposing of this and other developable land within the Las Vegas Valley under the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

The proceeds of the sale will be deposited in a special fund, which will be used in part for the purchase or preservation of environmentally sensitive land in Nevada and for the completion of important capital improvements at four federally managed recreation areas, which surround Greater Las Vegas.

The rest of the proceeds go to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for the completion of supply infrastructure and to the school children of Nevada with 5 percent deposited in the Nevada Permanent School Fund.

Over the next 30 days, the American Nevada/Del Webb partnership must work with the city of North Las Vegas to create a development agreement that will provide guidelines for the development of the project.

"Now the real work begins," said Frank Pankratz, senior vice president of Del Webb and general manager of Del Webb's Las Vegas operations. "In addition to the already aggressive land price, tens of millions will be needed to bring critical infrastructure to the site before the first home can be sold.

"It will be very important that we work very closely with the city of North Las Vegas to come up with an agreement that keeps the development of this project economically feasible."

Of the approximately 1,900 acres, about 500 acres will need to be set aside for public use. Another approximately 100 acres will be set aside for the construction of a new highway through the area. That leaves only about 1,300 acres of developable land.

Early plans for the site call for a master planned community with commercial areas, an age-qualified component and traditional single-family homes. Many of the details of the development, such as the amount and level of recreational amenities, will be dependent upon the development agreement negotiated with the city.

American Nevada and Del Webb announced their intention to create this partnership and develop the project in February 2000. American Nevada acts as the managing member of the joint venture with Del Webb bringing its expertise in developing age-qualified communities to the table.

The American Nevada Corp., a Greenspun Company, is best known for its development of the Green Valley, Green Valley Ranch and Seven Hills master planned communities in Henderson, Nev. Its roots in Southern Nevada go back to 1952 when founder Hank Greenspun first envisioned creating large-scale communities out of barren desert.

The Del Webb Corp. is the nation's leading developer of lifestyle-based communities. In Southern Nevada, it is best known for its development of Sun City Summerlin, Sun City MacDonald Ranch and its newest master plan, Anthem, home to Anthem Country Club, Coventry Homes and Sun City Anthem.

Del Webb first came to Southern Nevada as the general contractor on the Flamingo Hotel in 1946, and has been dedicated to improving the local community ever since.