Del Webb Construction

The Del E. Webb Construction Company was a construction company that was founded in 1928 and developed by Del Webb. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, it became the Del E. Webb Corporation a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 1960. The same year, the corporation unveiled Sun City, outside Phoenix, as the first community designed for active senior citizens. Many more Sun Cities were built by the corporation in the following decades. Along with construction, the corporation was also involved in real estate and owned several properties mainly hotels and casinos, many of which were built and/or expanded by the company. The company was purchased in 2001 by Pulte Homes. Pulte Homes since merged with Centex Corp. and is now PulteGroup. Del Webb continues as a brand of PulteGroup.

History

Founding

After moving from Fresno to Phoenix in 1928, Del Webb began working for a small contractor who was building a grocery store. The contractor eventually left town without paying Webb or completing the grocery store, so Webb took over the business to complete the job. This became the foundation of his namesake construction company. Among his earliest commissions were grocery store buildings for the Basha family. Webb soon became known as a grocery store builder. However, Webb sought to expand his firm and eagerly sought out public sector jobs during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1937 the firm opened a small branch office in Los Angeles to oversee construction of a high school there. With the onset of World War II the firm constructed several airfields throughout Arizona, as well as a Japanese internment camp at Poston (Poston War Relocation Center). In 1943, Webb made trusted employee L. C. Jacobson a 25 percent partner. Jacobson eventually became vice president. In 1946 Webb was contracted by mobster Bugsy Siegel to build the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. From 1947-48 Webb built distribution centers and warehouses throughout the United States for the Kraft Foods Company. In the early 1950s Webb would be contracted to build facilities for Howard Hughes. The Webb firm would go on to build several plants for Hughes.

In 1952 the company founded its first subsidiary, the Del E. Webb Development Company, responsible for the design and construction of housing tracts and shopping centers. In 1953 the development company would begin construction on San Manuel, Arizona a mining town built out of nothing. In 1955 the Webb corporation began constructing hotels for the Flamingo Corporation, which Webb was part owner. The following year Webb constructed the first Hiway House Hotel, which was a company owned jointly by Webb and Flamingo. On March 1, 1958 Webb sold his share of the Flamingo hotels and Flamingo sold it's share of Hiway House. Thus Webb became full owner of Hiway House, the hotel chain would be sold off in the early 1960s. As well as housing, during the 1950s, the construction company would build hospitals hotels and other large and small scale projects.

Sun City

Inspired by the construction of Youngtown, Arizona, Del E. Webb began planning the construction of a retirement community for senior citizens in 1959. The development was planned as an age-restricted community of modern ranch-style houses, with facilities such as a shopping center, golf course, motel, and swimming pool. On January 1, 1960, the development company unveiled Sun City, Arizona as the first community designed for senior citizens. More than 100,000 senior citizens were present at the community's unveiling, which marked the first planned retirement community in the United States. Sun City was a success, with the company selling 237 homes within its first three days of opening. It was followed by Sun City, California, the Kern City, Sun City Center, Florida, and similar developments in Nevada, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

Public incorporation

In December 1960, the Del E. Webb Construction Company went public on the New York Stock Exchange trading as WBB. The company also became known as the Del E. Webb Corporation at this time. In 1961 the Webb Corporation acquired the Sahara Nevada Corporation and its holdings of the Sahara and Mint hotels in Las Vegas. This made Webb the first publicly held corporation to be involved in Las Vegas gaming. Webb would go on to purchase, build and expand several properties throughout Nevada. In the 1960s Webb would develop a chain of high-end multi-story hotels called the Towne House. During this time the corporation was also deeply involved in the development of Oak Brook, Illinois, Clear Lake City, Texas and Alamaden, California. In the late 1960s the corporation entered a joint venture building infrastructure for several South American countries, this was the firm's first involvement outside the United States. Also at this time the corporation formed an additional subsidiary the Del E. Webb Building Management Company which was responsible for building management, it would eventually become the Del E. Webb Realty and Management Company when the subsidiary expanded to include holding leases on public buildings. In 1971 the corporation acquired Merlin Hotels which had many properties throughout East Asia. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the corporation continued to construct many large and small scale projects including housing, schools, hospitals, hotels, high rises, convention centers, athletic venues and airports.

The company was involved in a number of construction projects commissioned by the United States government, including the construction of a rocket engine test stand at Edwards Air Force Base. The company also built military housing on Offutt Air Force Base, Whiteman Air Force Base and Vandenberg Air Force Base. The company's founder Webb was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson as recognition for these projects.

Reorganization and sale to Pulte Homes

In 1987 the decision was made to divest the gaming, hotel and realty management sections of the corporation all of the Webb owned properties were sold off, and the corporation reorganized to focus solely on the concept of master planned communities for senior citizens. New communities opened in Arizona, Nevada, California and Texas. During the 1990s, Marco Rubio began holding speaking engagements at these retirement communities, for which the company tried to reward him by nicknaming a star after him in 1993. In 2001 the corporation was purchased by Pulte Homes. The Del Webb name is used by Pulte as a brand name for its age-restricted communities.

Gallery

File:Hunts Tomb Papago Park Phoenix AZ.jpg, Hunt's Tomb, Phoenix, Arizona. 1932
File:Glendale-Thunderbird 1 Army Air Field Control Tower-1941.jpg, Thunderbird Field No. 1, Glendale, Arizona, 1939-1941
File:Flamingo1a.jpg, Flamingo Las Vegas built for Mobster Bugsy Siegel 1947
File:Phoenix-Hanny's.jpg, Hanny's Department Store, Phoenix, Arizona, 1947
File:Alexandria Tower at Sahara hotel.jpg, Sahara Las Vegas built in 1952 and later bought by Webb who added the Alexandra Tower (pictured) in 1963.
File:BeverlyHilton03.jpg, The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, 1955
File:Phoenix Towers (2).JPG, The Phoenix Towers, Phoenix, Arizona, 1957
File:Sun City-Sun City DEVCO Model -1-1959.JPG, Original model home at Sun City, Arizona, unveiled January 1, 1960.
File:3800 Tower.jpg, The 3800 Tower of the Phoenix City Square built in 1962 as the company's headquarters.
File:Bank of the West Tower Albuquerque 2012.jpg, Bank of the West Tower, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1963
File:United States Pavilion.jpg, United States Pavilion constructed in 1963 for the 1964 New York World's Fair
File:Golden State County Plaza, Fresno, CA.JPG, Golden State County Plaza, Fresno, California, 1962-1964, originally Del Webb's Towne House Hotel.
File:4000 North Central Ave.jpg, the 4000 Tower of the Phoenix City Square, 1963-1964, originally Del Webb's Towne House Hotel,
File:Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wilshire Boulevard, 1965.jpg, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, 1963-1964
File:One Wilshire.jpg, One Wilshire Building, Los Angeles, California, 1965-1967
File:Madison Square Garden, February 2013.jpg, Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, 1964-1968
File:Norton Simon museum-2.jpg, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, 1967-1969
File:Turtle Bay Resort (3971016828).jpg, Turtle Bay Resort, Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii, 1970-1972, originally Del Webb's Kuilima Resort Hotel.
File:Las Vegas City Hall.jpg, Old City Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada 1973
File:HyattRegencyDearborn1.jpg, Hyatt Regency, Dearborn, Michigan, 1975

Works

Works built by the Del E. Webb Construction Company, (1928-1960) later the Del E. Webb Corporation (1960-2001) are listed below. A number of works by the firm are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Hotels

Hotels owned or jointly owned by Del E. Webb Corporation. Webb's involvement in hotel ownership began in the mid 1950s and lasted until 1987. The corporation sold its last hotel in 1988.

Flamingo Hotels

The Flamingo Hotels were a chain of Motor Hotels jointly owned by Webb and Ramada Hotels (operating as Flamingo Corporation) starting in 1955. On March 1, 1958 Webb sold its ownership of the chain to Flamingo, in exchange for full ownership of the Hiway House Hotels. The Chain included the Bagdad Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, Frontier Motel in McAllen, Texas, El Rancho Motel in Flagstaff, Arizona, Sahara Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona and Flamingo Motels in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa and Arcadia, California and El Paso and San Antonio, Texas.

Hiway House Hotels

The Hiway House Hotels were a chain of motor hotels built in a colonial design. The chain was founded in 1956 by Webb and Flamingo. On March 1, 1958 Webb bought out Flamingo's share of Hiway House and sold its share of the Flamingo Hotels (mentioned above). Webb sold the hotel chain in the 1960s. See Hiway House for locations.

Sahara-Nevada Corporation

The Sahara-Nevada Corporation and its holdings (the Sahara and Mint Hotels in Las Vegas) was acquired by Webb in 1961. Webb would open and operate several more hotel/casinos throughout Nevada under the name. The other hotel/casinos under the Sahara-Nevada umbrella were the Thunderbird Resort in Las Vegas owned from 1964-1972, The Sahara Tahoe in Stateline owned from 1965-1987 and the Sahara Reno owned from 1978-1981

King's Inn Hotels

Del Webb's Kings Inn Motor Hotels were established in 1960 and placed within Webb's master planned communities, with most within the Sun Cities. The hotels featured Old English decor. The hotel chain had four locations in Sun City, AZ, Sun City, CA, Sun City, FL and Clear Lake City, TX. The hotels in Florida and California were sold in 1973 the remaining two were sold in 1987.

Towne House Hotels

Del Webb's Towne House was a small chain of upscale hotels situated in the upper stories of Webb owned high-rises. The hotel chain had three locations in Phoenix, San Francisco and Fresno. The hotels were sold in 1981.

Merlin Hotels

Merlin Hotels was a chain of high rise hotels located throughout East Asia, acquired in 1971. Webb sold the hotel chain in 1987. There were four locations in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

Additional Hotels

*Continental Hotel, Denver CO, owned 1957-1987
*Del Webb's Mountain Shadows Resort, Paradise Valley AZ, owned 1961-1981
*Del Webb's OceanHouse, San Diego, CA, owned 1962-1964
*Del Webb's Newporter Inn, Newport Beach, CA, owned 1970-1981
* Del Webb's Kuilima Resort Hotel, Kahuku Oahu, HI, owned 1972-late 1970s
* Claridge Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ, owned 1977-1983
*La Posada Hotel, Scottsdale, AZ, owned 1978-1987
* Nevada Club, Laughlin, NV, owned 1979-1988
*Raintree Motel, Bullhead City, AZ, owned 1982-1987

Properties

Properties owned, managed and/or operated by Del E. Webb Corporation.

In the 1950s Webb began building shopping centers which were also owned or jointly owned by Webb through several wholly owned subsidiaries. The Del E. Webb Building Management Co. was created in 1968 as a subsidiary. It then became the Del E. Webb Realty & Management Co. in 1970. Major properties that fall under this umbrella Include Uptown Plaza Shopping Center, Camelback Village Square, Christown Mall and the Rosenzweig Center all in Phoenix, Campbell Plaza and Wilmont Medical Center in Tucson, Executive and Commerce Plazas in Oak Brook and the Stardust Country Club (renamed Sahara-Nevada Country Club) in Las Vegas. The Webb Corp. also served as leasing agent to many large companies including Prudential Insurance, Travelers Insurance, Arizona-Colorado Land & Cattle Company, Valley National Bank, Feau Realty & Development and Hartford Insurance Company. The company's interest in commercial properties continued until 1987 at which time these properties were sold.

See also

* ''Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del E. Webb Development Co.''
* Del Webb

References

External links

*{{official, http://www.delwebb.com
Del Webb Corporation history, at www.fundinguniverse.com

Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States