Ray O’Sullivan has owned Realty Development Services since 1981. O’Sullivan will begin moving dirt for the New Falcon Highlands residential development (Falcon Highlands LLC) this summer. The residential community butts up against Woodmen Road. Phase I includes 126 lots that will be ready for occupants by the spring of 2005. Phase II is scheduled to begin in another year.O’Sullivan is also working on a new development east of Meadow Lake Airport, from Curtis Road to Peyton Highway. The Santa Fe Springs development includes 5,370 homes, which include 3,000 units reserved for a high-amenity adult (age 55 or over) community. Price ranges will range from 00,000 to 50,000.The Santa Fe Springs development encompasses 140 acres of commercial development, which, said O’Sullivan, includes big-box stores that will be “anchored with the usual suspects.”O’Sullivan did not ask for additional density when the project was approved. “I acquired the property with an existent sketch plan, which is now a 20-year antiquated plan,” said O’Sullivan. “We updated it, and the people and the county supported it.” O’Sullivan said his company took a plan that “ate up the ground with large lots” and reduced it to include more typical urban lot sizes of 6,000 square-feet to 9,000 square-feet, and created 1,800 acres of open space and park trails designated for public use.O’Sullivan said the new development and other developments in the area are opportunities to solve the infrastructure issues. “Developers are making large contributions to the issues as they are being identified,” said O’Sullivan. “We know that good communities sell. If it’s not a good community, no one will live there, no matter how good my project is. And everyone in development has a tremendous interest in the school district’s success.”Development is a product of cooperation – we (developers) can’t force issues with the city councils or the county commissioners. It’s all a compromise.”
