Hovnanian Enterprises
Encyclopedia
Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. is a United States
real estate
company involved in every aspect of marketing homes, including design, construction and sales. The company works with individual detached housing as well as higher-occupancy dwellings, including townhouse
s, condominium
s and retirement home
s. In most cases, the company acquires and develops the land on which these developments are built, but in some geographic regions, Hovnanian offers to build their proprietary house designs on private land. The company consists of two operating groups, homebuilding
and financial services
, and recently entered the Fortune 500
.
Despite some recent financial difficulties due to the 2008–2009 recession and financial crisis, Hovnanian Enterprises remains the sixth largest American homebuilder and the largest homebuilder in New Jersey
, as of September 2009.
, California
, Delaware
, Florida
, Georgia
, Illinois
, Kentucky
, Maryland
, Michigan
, Minnesota
, New Jersey
, New York
, North Carolina
, Ohio
, Pennsylvania
, South Carolina
, Texas
, Virginia
, and West Virginia
. The Hovnanian family controls about 30% of the company shares, a stake worth $1 billion in 2005.
The company relocated its corporate headquarters
to a new building on the banks of the Navesink River
in Red Bank, New Jersey
, in 2006.
, an ethnic Armenian originally from Iraq, and his three brothers - Hirair Hovnanian, Jirair Hovnanian
and Vahak Hovananian - each contributed $1,000 dollars, in addition to $20,000 which they borrowed, to found Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. in a trailer in Toms River, New Jersey
.
Hovnanian and his company earned a reputation to selling low cost condos and townhouse
s, many to first time young homewowners and families. A typical two-bedroom
, two bathroom
Hovnanian home built in the early 1980s cost approximately $30,000 because Hovnanian eliminated amenities such as communal swimming pool
s, which other builders used to attract potential buyers. In a New York Times interview in 1983, Hovnanian explained his reasoning for marketing low cost homes in developments without community amenities, "There are limited recreation
facilities going in because people have little time for socialization
."
In 1964 Jirair Hovnanian split off from his brothers' company and founded his own construction business, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, of Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey
. Hirair and Vahak also left the company by 1969 to found their own enterprises.
Hovnanian Enterprises had built and sold more than 30,000 homes and condos by 1989. An additional 200,000 residences were sold between 1989 and 2009, as the company expanded its construction to include luxury
homes, mid-priced homes and retirement communities. It remains one the United States' largest builders of "active adult homes", which are sold under the name of Four Seasons communities.
Kevork Hovnanian stepped down as president of Hovnanian Enterprises in 1989, and was succeeded by his son, Ara K. Hovnanian. He remained chief executive until his retirement in 1997, and was also replaced as CEO by Ara Hovnanian. However, he remained the chairman of the company's board of directors
until his death in 2009.
K. Hovnanian Homes has also been the subject of praise from homeowners citing the builders reputation and solid history. Hovnanian has also received numerous awards based on the quality of their construction and high level customer support.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
company involved in every aspect of marketing homes, including design, construction and sales. The company works with individual detached housing as well as higher-occupancy dwellings, including townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
s, condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s and retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
s. In most cases, the company acquires and develops the land on which these developments are built, but in some geographic regions, Hovnanian offers to build their proprietary house designs on private land. The company consists of two operating groups, homebuilding
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
and financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
, and recently entered the Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
.
Despite some recent financial difficulties due to the 2008–2009 recession and financial crisis, Hovnanian Enterprises remains the sixth largest American homebuilder and the largest homebuilder in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, as of September 2009.
Company operations
Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. builds about 14,600 houses a year, with base prices ranging from $46,000 to $2,350,000 and averaging about $280,000. It operates in ArizonaArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. The Hovnanian family controls about 30% of the company shares, a stake worth $1 billion in 2005.
The company relocated its corporate headquarters
Corporate headquarters
Corporate headquarters is a term used to describe the entity at the top of a corporation to take full responsibility for the overall success of the corporation, ensures Corporate Governance...
to a new building on the banks of the Navesink River
Navesink River
The Navesink River is an estuary, approximately 8 mi long in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It is surrounded by the communities of Middletown, Red Bank, Fair Haven and Rumson....
in Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
, in 2006.
History
In 1959, Kevork HovnanianKevork Hovnanian
Kevork S. Hovnanian was an Iraqi-born Armenian-American businessman and home builder, who founded Hovnanian Enterprises in 1959. He remained the president and chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises until his retirement in 1997...
, an ethnic Armenian originally from Iraq, and his three brothers - Hirair Hovnanian, Jirair Hovnanian
Jirair Hovnanian
Jirair S. Hovnanian was an Armenian Iraqi-American home builder based in New Jersey. Hovnanian's business developed and built over 6,000 houses throughout South Jersey.-Early life:...
and Vahak Hovananian - each contributed $1,000 dollars, in addition to $20,000 which they borrowed, to found Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. in a trailer in Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River Township and is the county seat of Ocean County, New Jersey. It is part of a larger Toms River Township...
.
Hovnanian and his company earned a reputation to selling low cost condos and townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
s, many to first time young homewowners and families. A typical two-bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
, two bathroom
Bathroom
A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....
Hovnanian home built in the early 1980s cost approximately $30,000 because Hovnanian eliminated amenities such as communal swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s, which other builders used to attract potential buyers. In a New York Times interview in 1983, Hovnanian explained his reasoning for marketing low cost homes in developments without community amenities, "There are limited recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
facilities going in because people have little time for socialization
Socialization
Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies...
."
In 1964 Jirair Hovnanian split off from his brothers' company and founded his own construction business, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, of Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey
Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey
Mount Laurel Township is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, and is an edge city "suburb" of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 40,221...
. Hirair and Vahak also left the company by 1969 to found their own enterprises.
Hovnanian Enterprises had built and sold more than 30,000 homes and condos by 1989. An additional 200,000 residences were sold between 1989 and 2009, as the company expanded its construction to include luxury
Luxury real estate
Luxury real estate is the real estate market niche targeted at the highest socio-economic group of consumers. -Definition:The characteristics that define luxury real estate differ among countries...
homes, mid-priced homes and retirement communities. It remains one the United States' largest builders of "active adult homes", which are sold under the name of Four Seasons communities.
Kevork Hovnanian stepped down as president of Hovnanian Enterprises in 1989, and was succeeded by his son, Ara K. Hovnanian. He remained chief executive until his retirement in 1997, and was also replaced as CEO by Ara Hovnanian. However, he remained the chairman of the company's board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
until his death in 2009.
Quality
Hovnanian has been the subject of customer complaints. In a few cases, there have been legitimate construction problems in some Hovnanian houses. For example, in 2005, Hovnanian acknowledged problems in a development in New Jersey after nearly three dozen disgruntled homeowners turned to elected officials when their complaints were ignored.K. Hovnanian Homes has also been the subject of praise from homeowners citing the builders reputation and solid history. Hovnanian has also received numerous awards based on the quality of their construction and high level customer support.