The city council ignored hundreds of letters and public comments that opposed the project. Last, and certainly not least, is the service. By far the Worst company I have ever had the displeasure of working for!! In October, Seeno III countered his father's lawsuit with a complaint that disputes roughly $100 million in debt allegedly owed by Seeno III and Discovery Builders, and alleged in a third. Add Benefits. Seeno is no stranger to the project. PITTSBURG A judge has dealt a major blow to the developers of a massive housing project planned for a scenic ridgeline in the Pittsburg hills, delivering at least a temporary victory for the group of environmentalists who sued to stop it. Lennar Homes, the nations second-largest homebuilder, is seeking a court order overturning La Habras November vote blocking its Rancho La Habra project on the Westridge Golf Club. So where is the personal responsibility?. Management is not open to suggestions or innovation. The Faria project would change the beautiful green hills forever by annexing the property to the City of Pittsburg and locating 1,650 new residences far from jobs, transit, and services. The final vote to formally approve Seeno might happen this October. The city of Concord could be sued for not following it's own rules, just as Pittsburg is being sued for not following it's own legal guidelines. The Whittemores responded Feb. 1 with a suit of their own filed in the U.S. District Court of Nevada, accusing Albert Seeno Jr., Thomas Seeno and Albert Seeno III of racketeering, extortion, conspiracy to defraud the Whittemores and the federal government and breach of contract. No effort is made when new people start to introduce them to others in the company or provide any kind of orientation or overall training. We have been building quality homes since the formation of Seeno Homes by Albert D. Seeno, Sr in 1938. Exactly what you said. We identified deficiencies in the CEQA review, he said. Find him taking walks around town; he is always looking for story tips. There was always a monetary carrot dangling for a select few that didn't apply to everyone else. Shahid is next scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing on Dec. 10, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. PST before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers of the Northern District of California. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Concord-based Seeno Construction Co., which has plans to build 152 homes on the site, received about $300 in fines from county code enforcement for illegally bulldozing the trees. An investigation by this newspaper showed that during a 16-month period from 2006 to 2008, Seeno companies opened at least $1.24 billion in construction lines of credit. The city approved an agreement with Seeno that established guidelines for a permanent greenbelt buffer along the inner edges of the boundary. Two of three former Seeno employees who cooperated with FBI investigators have yet to be sentenced for their guilty pleas as part of this scheme. Shomik Mukherjee covers Oakland, with a focus on local politics, developments and activism. By doing this to serve their own narrow economic interests, Shahid, and actors like him, contributed to the housing bubble., The actions of Ayman Shahid, certain sales managers and others directly contributed to one of the most significant housing and financial crises of recent memory, said Special Agent in Charge Johnson. Red Tag Sales Event: Save up to $150,000 on Select Move-In Ready HomesFeb 15, 2023. Bjerke further warned that if the city were to revert to square one, the Navy could grow impatient and decide to auction off its former weapons site land instead of transferring it to Concord. When the other team pulled out last year in the wake of a labor dispute, Discovery Builders and the Seeno family returned for another bidding round and won the right to take over the Naval Weapons Station project as master developer. Colopy said that although his client informed the park district of its concerns, they were not considered during the approval process. Your email address will not be published. A Southern California native, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. Shahid and his coconspirators were responsible for saddling the banking system with dozens of fraudulent mortgage loans without regard for the damage those loans would cause to individual home buyers, downstream investors, and, ultimately, the U.S. economy as a whole, said U.S. Attorney Haag. Shahid told investigators that Seeno III knew about the criminal activity. To the dismay of Seenos critics, the exclusive negotiating agreement also effectively prevents the council from arbitrarily changing its mind, Bjerke said. Oh and can you say MICRO-MANAGE?! Please enter a valid location or select an item from the list. Councilman Edi Birsan, who vigorously defended the Seeno family at the August meeting from what he called personal attacks, said Tuesday he doesnt expect the companies history of litigation to be a factor in the naval weapons project. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. If the incentives appeared in the bank loan files, Shahid explained, the loan underwriters would likely reject the loans. We very much appreciate owning a Seeno built home and would not hesitate to purchase another one." Dallas and Judy Seeno, Discovery Builders sue to halt regional, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Alameda County DAs new policy will reduce prison sentences through widespread elimination of sentencing enhancements, Seeno, Discovery Builders sue to halt regional park plan, Navy hands over part of old Concord weapons site for creation of huge regional park, Plan to put 1,500 homes in the Pittsburg hills gets first nod, | East Contra Costa County editor/reporter. No regard/plan for customer service. Everything is professional and team building. 20% of Complaints are filed by Homeowners and/or Borrowers; 20% of Complaints are filed by Appraisers; 15% of Complaints are filed by "Others" (Realtors, Lawyers, Law Enforcement . Do Benicians want tar-sands oil brought here? Dear Abby: My wife said she doesn't like it, but it's part of my life, Harriette Cole: I don't want the neighbor's kids at my house, Ask Amy: I feel guilty for not speaking up about my co-worker's activities, Ask Amy: I'm your cabin housekeeper, and you apparently have no idea what I do. The accusations accuse the city of disregarding Lennars environmental impact report, charging the developer $1 million to produce its own EIR, which it later rejected. Hemann told the judge Thursday that the FBI did a thorough investigation into Shahids claim, but could not find evidence to proveSeeno IIIs involvement to a jury. Very demeaning and overall vile! Fill out the form below and Dayna will be in touch shortly. Founded Seeno Homes in 1938 We are dedicated to embodying the idea of the Discovery Difference, a mission to enhance your buying experience and offer new homes that exemplify the highest standards of craftsmanship. Whom are they paying off? All rights reserved. 10 reviews of Albert Seeno Construction "We purchased a home in the new development of San Marco by Seeno Homes and Discovery Builders, we have been in our home 4 months now. It seems really nave and really irresponsible to think our community would be immune to these same behaviors, said Kat Hannah. Ft. 3 - 4 Bed 2 - 3 Bath. Paying off someone in the city. James Colopy of Farella Braun + Martel, the legal firm representing Discovery Builders, said his client years earlier had expressed concerns about converting the former weapons station to a large public park. The project, known as Faria/Southwest Hills, was approved by the Pittsburg City Council last year despite opposition from hundreds of residents. In connection with his plea agreement, Shahid admitted that he conspired with others to fraudulently cause bank underwriters to approve mortgage loans for unqualified buyers during the height of the financial crisis. What has always concerned me about this case and what continues to concern me is that as Mr. Seeno has admitted, he is the sole owner of the corporation, Gonzalez Rogers said. Hours are very strict - either 7am to 4pm or 8am to 5pm. Awesome company! During the entire time I was there, I never met the HR Manager. The long-running case began in the early 1980s when homeowners at a Seeno development in Pittsburg sued the construction company for about $30 million in damage to their homes caused by. Login to your MyDeNova Homes account.Dont have an account? Discovery Sales was prosecuted as a company. Management showed FAVORTISM to a selected few which were put at the best communities and were able to double dip in commissions. It was very hard to have a life outside of Seeno. The project as approved by the city authorizes the development of a major, new residential subdivision on 606 acres of ridgeline and hillside grazing land in what is currently unincorporated Contra Costa County, immediately south of the City of Pittsburg. In a statement about the ruling, an attorney for the developers pointed out that the courts ruling signed off on most of the projects details. Pittsburg has thousands of housing units already approved but not yet built, including units at Seenos San Marco, Sky Ranch II, Montreux, and Tuscany Meadows projects and now including Faria. In its lawsuit, Lennar accused the city of systematically hindering and delaying the project to give time for the anti-development initiative to get passed and to bleed the project dry. Shahid is the most recent and highest placed individual charged by the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of California as a result of a wide-ranging investigation by the FBI into mortgage fraud in connection with the sale of homes by DSI and its affiliates. The owner of the company might pop into your community occasionally but he is always really humble and tries to blend like a regular buyer. By comparison, next door and above the new park, Faria would include hundreds of acres of impacts. Developer Albert Seeno III walks outside the Federal Courthouse after pleading guilty to bank fraud on behalf of his home sales company, Discovery Sales, in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Dec.. The project faced enormous opposition at the outset from both housing advocates who oppose urban sprawl and Pittsburg residents who feared an influx of more than a thousand homes south of the city. 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As part of the agreement passed Tuesday, the council wont be allowed to take political donations from employees of the development teams or their subcontractors. The company has a stake in numerous California mega-projects with partner Five Point Communities, ranging from the Orange County Great Park to the new Valencia development in northern Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Shipyard project. They constantly humiliated employees by putting up charts in the meeting rooms and ranking them so that everyone could ridicule them. Discovery and Seeno Homes has an overall rating of 2.9 out of 5, based on over 16 reviews left anonymously by employees. I would tread lightly here. We very much appreciate owning a Seeno built home and would not hesitate to purchase another one. Before joining the Orange County Register in 1990, he covered a wide range of topics for daily newspapers in Kansas, El Paso and Dallas. For more information on Pittsburg development plans, go to http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/, For more on the planned Concord Hills Regional Park, go to https://www.ebparks.org/parks/concord_hills/default.htm. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office in San Franciscos Special Prosecutions Unit. The only con I can think of is we work every weekend and our time off is limited. Specifically, Shahid ensured the details of the incentives that were being given to specific buyers would not appear in the bank loan files because the loan-to-value ratio would not support the requested loan on the inflated sales price of the home. As a result, rare habitat for special status species would be lost. Specifically, the line of credit could be reduced or terminated, or additional collateral would be required to secure the line of credit. Seeno representatives have consistently declined to be interviewed, but the companies issued a statement last month that said, We look forward to working with the City of Concord and the Concord community to design and develop a first class project that the entire region can all be proud of.. Discover your perfect home in a DeNova community. They do build a quality home. My clients are not opposed to the park by any means, he said. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? We are very pleased with the schools in the area and the beautiful parks nearby. We have limited open space in La Habra.. On March 30, 2021, Save Mount Diablo filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Pittsburgs approval of the Seeno-owned Discovery Builders 1,650-unit Faria project, on the ridgeline between Pittsburg and Concord. Not once, was there any kind of staff meeting of the department. Neither of these have started yet. The companies also previously sued the Navy to halt it from transferring its property for any development. The lawsuit also maintains some funding to fight the project came from the Westridge Community Association, a neighborhood abutting the golf course that once was part of the same property. And of course once the homeowner moved in, we had to do customer service. The response was classic Seeno: A lawsuit charged that the city's construction permit didn't spell out a precise height. Ayman Shahid, 39, of Danville, California, the former president of Discovery Sales Inc. (DSI), pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland, California, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California, Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of the FBIs San Francisco Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas McMahon of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Special Agent in Charge Leslie DeMarco for the Federal Housing Finance Agencys Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG). Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. Tour 3 Designer Decorated Model Homes Today! Add Interview. Argentina. Pac-12 media rights: Our (final) predictions for the revenue, media partners, expansion decisions and more, Denver gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, In 4 years, Lori Lightfoot went from breakout political star to divisive mayor of a Chicago beset by pandemic and crime, Florida lawmakers to consider expansion of so-called dont say gay law, Drone crashes at Disneyland after hovering over visitors heads See video, Rapper Travis Scott wanted for assaulting Manhattan club sound engineer, destroying $12K in equipment, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. This is a major victory for Pittsburgs hills, Save Mount Diablo Land Conservation Director Seth Adams said in a statement. This is the true culmination of a decades-long community effort, Beverly Lane, who has represented Concord on the East Bay Regional Park District board since 1994, said in a written statement. The family of builders has earned a reputation for engaging in drawn-out legal battles against public agencies and environmental groups, though the companies have also fostered a strong relationship with local labor unions. We will bring this evidence to the Courts attention next week, and we are hopeful that the Court will reconsider its decision in light of the full evidentiary record.. ", "Over all the homes we looked at (believe me we have looked at many) Seeno Homes - A. D. Seeno Construction Co. was by far the perfect home for us. But opponents of Seeno have won the latest skirmish, at least for now. A developer sued the city of La Habra for more than $100 million last week for blocking the conversion of an unprofitable golf course into a 443-home housing and commercial development. poor management skills, micro managing exemplified, unclear direction of the company. In a unanimous vote, the council formalized an exclusive agreement Tuesday that grants the companies the right to oversee the Concord Naval Weapons Stations long-anticipated redevelopment. The EIR failed to provide an adequate project description, for example, by omitting information about the location of elements of the planned residential development and about related public services, such as water consumption rates. We will continue to pursue executives and corporations who fraudulently took advantage of the country's financial turmoil for their own corporate gain., Shahid participated in a fraudulent scheme involving over $230 million in mortgage loans, many of which ultimately defaulted, to the detriment of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the American taxpayers, said Special Agent in Charge DeMarco. Even thought they had a number at main office to call. A city spokesman on Thursday, Jan. 21 declined to respond to the lawsuit. Those units represent approximately 60,000 new car trips per day that will soon impact local roads and Highway 4. They approved it the same moment. Glassdoor has 16 Discovery and Seeno Homes reviews submitted anonymously by Discovery and Seeno Homes employees. His voice sounded full of emotion at times during the hour-long hearing. I really enjoyed the office culture, as my space was my space. Carey Hendrickson and Jason Sterlino, sales managers for Seeno properties, were previously charged. More fees were charged for additional processing, including over $200,000 in legal fees, allegedly to pay for its lawyers to devise ploys to stop the project, the lawsuit said. At UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine I can think of is we work every weekend our..., or additional collateral would be required to secure the line of credit could be reduced or terminated, additional! Certainly not least, is the most recent and highest placed individual charged by the Pittsburg council... 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