Randall Lewis, the executive vice president for marketing of the Lewis Group of Companies, was vacationing in Europe this week. Nevertheless, he phoned the Sentinel to note elements of an article headlined South Upland Low House Pricing Kills Lewis/City Trade For Cabrillo Park that ran in the July 27 edition were in error.
That article stated that builders the Lewis Group of Companies works with after Lewis obtains an entitlement to proceed with a project backed out of the opportunity to construct homes on land now located within the confines of Cabrillo Park on 11th Street the Lewis Group of Companies hoped to obtain by means of a land swap for property in the north part of Upland because the projected selling price of the homes to be built in south Upland was too low. The article stated that without having builders willing to construct homes, the prospect for the land swap including the park property died.
“That we or the builders were worried about pricing is completely inaccurate,” Randall Lewis said. “The builders were never in on the decision to make the land trade. Home prices were never an issue and had nothing to do with our decision. We did not talk to any of the builders. That never happened. The references to conversations with the builders is 100 percent false.”
Lewis continued, “I was involved. I would know if it did occur. Someone gave you some bad information. Our decision [to not do the land swap] was based on the objections of an environmental group and a lot of neighborhood concerns.”
–Mark Gutglueck