Leaving Home Building

Entrepreneurs now work in real estate, investment and land acquisition.

builder by total of corporate revenues,
and is ranked third in terms of hous-
ing starts. They already had a presence
in 75 markets in 22 states and the
District of Columbia.
Established in 1950, Centex, has
annual revenues exceeding $7 billion.
A Fortune 500 company, it has been
publicly held since 1969. The compa-
ny has more than 13,000 full-time
employees in nearly 1,000 offices and
construction sites across the nation.

Breaking Away

Steve Friedman
and Michael
Horowitz are
going in a new
direction.

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to the Jewish News

0

nce Michael Horowitz and
Steve Friedman decided to
sell the Selective Group
homebuilders and move on
to a new business venture, they needed
to be certain that they would leave the
company in good hands.
So in a deal made in business heav-
en, Horowitz and Friedman sold their
Farmington Hills-based company to
Centex Homes, a division of the
Centex Corp. of Dallas. Centex had
been seeking a quality acquisition that
would enable them to move into the
lucrative southeastern Michigan hous-
ing market with an already well estab-
lished, gilt-edged piesence.
Centex is the nation's largest home-

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5/25

2001

94

Horowitz and Friedman declined to
discu- ss the purchase price or any
details of the agreement, nor did they
remain with the company after the
sale was closed. They said they will not
engage in residential home building at
their new venture, F&H Holding Co.,
located on West Maple Road in West
Bloomfield.
Horowitz said the decision to leave
home building was "motivated partial-
ly by personal desire and partially by
terms of the purchase contract."
"We will remain active in real estate,
investment and land acquisition, as
opposed to building," said Horowitz.
"We just will not be building hous-
es," Friedman added. "We will do
some land speculation, and maybe
some development for single-family
homes, income-producing portfolio
apartments and shopping centers.
Some of these are parcels we've
already accumulated through the
years and were not part of the sale
package. Generally, we will be func-
tioning as investors, placing money
into deals."

Handing Over The Reins

Both men declined to reveal earnings
figures for the Selective Group.
Horowitz said the company was
approached by Centex and "we talked
to them on and off for a couple of
years."
Horowitz and Friedman signed a
letter of intent for the purchase on
Oct. 12.
"I think it was a good move on our
part in terms of leaving the current

Michael Horowitz chairs the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Israel and Oversight
committees. He is a board mem-
ber of the Federation's executive
committee.
Members of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, Horowitz and his
wife, Barbara, litre in West
Bloomfield. They have four chil-
dren: Rachel, 20; Susan, 18;
Adam, 16; and Geoffrey, who is
12.
Horowitz worked in commercial
brokering and development at
Farbman/Stein Inc. (now the
Southfield-based Farbman Group)
before founding Selective.
Friedman is a board member of
the Jewish Community Center
and a member of Temple Israel.
His wife Cindy died on April 16.
The couple's children are: two
sons: Justin and Bradley, and a
daughter, Ricki.
Friedman's brother David is the
commercial real estate leader of
the Farmington Hills-based
Friedman Real Estate Group, Inc.

employees in very strong hands. It is
insurance on our part that the compa-
ny will be moving forward and is in
the best position for growth," said
Friedman.
Among the Selective Group's major
developments have been Maple Creek
and Maple Woods in West
Bloomfield, Barclay Estates and
Timber Ridge in Novi and Central
Park in Canton.
Horowitz and Friedman started
Selective in 1983. Horowitz said it wa
good timing because "the housing
market in 1983 was a disaster. There
was no housing market. The old-time
builders had retired and gone to
Florida, or were out of business. It
was very fortuitous for us in terms of
buying subdivisions and lots from
banks."