Sukut Wins $96M New Model Colony Work

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SANTA ANA, CA-Sukut Construction Inc. has landed a $96 million contract to build the roads and underground infrastructure on the 4,000-acre first phase of the 13-square-mile New Model Colony master-planned community in Ontario, one of the largest projects in recent Southern California history. Sukut officials note that of 13 companies vying for the contract, only five were qualified by the city to be capable of managing such a massive job.

Approximately 120 acres of commercial building totaling five million sf is planned for the first phase of New Model Colony, according to Michael Bobeczko, Sukut director of marketing. The entire New Model Colony development will include 30,000 homes, plus retail and commercial centers, schools and parks.

The New Model Colony project, which is expected to take 20 years to complete, will be built in three phases and will increase the population of Ontario by 120,000. The masterplanned community will be developed on one of the largest remaining, centrally located and undeveloped areas in Southern California and is expected to become an important center of employment, culture and entertainment.

Ontario’s New Model Colony is the portion of the former San Bernardino County Agricultural Preserve annexed by the city in 1999. The New Model Colony totals approximately 8,200 acres and is bounded by Riverside Drive to the north, Milliken Avenue and Hamner Avenue to the east, the Riverside County line and Merrill Avenue to the south, and Euclid Avenue to the west.

The land from which New Model Colony will rise is primarily dairy farms and pasture. Sukut will build the arterial highways on existing roads: Archibald, Hamner and Mill Creek which run north and south, and Riverside, Merrill and Belgrave, which run east and west.

A consortium of 26 developers including Lewis Properties, Brookfield Homes, Stratham Communities, Richland Communities and Meritage Homes will build on the property after Sukut readies it with the infrastucture work. The Santa Ana-based company’s job involves clearing the path of the arterials; installing sewer, water, reclaimed water and storm water pipelines; adding conduits for gas, electric, fiber optic and cable utilities; and finishing with curbs, gutters, asphalt, street lights and traffic signals.

Sukut CEO Michael Crawford calls the New Model Colony job “enormous.” He cites statistics showing that Sukut will be building six arterial roads totaling 13 miles, will excavate 900,000 cubic yards of dirt, will lay 240,000 lineal feet of water, sewer and storm pipe; install 532 street lights and 23 traffic signals.

Sukut, California’s largest mass excavation and grading contractor, was founded almost 40 years ago. In addition to its Santa Ana headquarters, it operates offices in Oceanside, Los Angeles and Riverside.