HOUSING INDUSTRY : Leading County Builder Lyon Lays Off 73 of Its 336 Employees

NEWPORT BEACH —  For years, William Lyon Co. has reigned as Orange County’s leading home builder. But the stubborn recession has wreaked havoc on the big as well as the small, forcing Lyon Co. earlier this week to cut loose 73 of its 336 employees.

About 50 of those terminated work in offices and at sites in Orange County, Lyon Co. spokesman Rick Sherman said. “The cuts include construction superintendents, salespeople and clerical support staff,” he said.

In its 35-year existence, Lyon Co. has built 70,000 homes across California. But the economic downturn has resulted in fewer construction loans and slower sales for all home builders.

“We are not bringing projects on as quickly as we have in the past,” Sherman said. As a result, he said, as housing developments were completed, “we did not have enough projects starting up to move our people from one project to another.”

In Orange County, Lyon Co. has housing developments underway in Aliso Viejo, Trabuco Canyon and Foothill Ranch. It is also building in Riverside and San Diego counties.

“We’re still actively developing,” Sherman said. “We are always looking at buying additional land, but we are also looking to sell land.” The company has put on the market some of the 900 acres it owns in Chino Hills.

Like other home builders, the privately held company has had to shave its prices because of sluggish sales. “Prices have been dropping all over the state, and we have responded to the marketplace,” Sherman said.