Phoenix-based Del Webb said it is selling land in its Sun City Texas and Sun City Hilton Head properties, both of which are age-restricted, master planned communities. Sun City Texas is in Georgetown, TX about 28 miles north of Austin. Sun City Hilton Head is about 13 miles from Hilton Head Island. The land holdings will be reduced through sales to other residential and commercial developers, the company says.

The company disclosed the information during New York conference calls to analysts.

The company also says its expects to earn $4.50 to $4.70 per share for the fiscal year that ends June 30, that's up $4 from last year. Those earnings are in line with what most analysts expected for year-end results for Del Webb.

The company is also entering into joint-venture partnerships with other developers and homebuilders. In Arizona Del Webb is partnering with Lennar/US Homes on its Anthem development and has formed a joint venture with American Nevada Corp., a large developer of master-planned communities in Nevada. The joint venture will be bidding on a 1,700-acre track of public land that comes up for auction in May.

The land reduction and alliances with other builders are part of Del Webb's stated new strategy announced last year after it repelled efforts by disgruntled shareholders who wanted to sell off the company. The new strategy is aimed at lowering Del Webb's debt and reducing overall costs.

"Del Webb is a very different company than one year ago," says CEO LeRoy Hanneman. "Our strategic plan is designed to maximize Webb's opportunities to capture the incredible shift in our demographics that will occur over the next 10 years."

Some 76 million baby boomers will be hitting Del Webb's target market of 55 years and older buyers.

Del Webb was criticized by some shareholders for financing the cost of land purchases itself, which has pushed its debt-to-total capital ratio to an industry-wide high of more than 66%. The company expects to push that ratio below 65% during 2001 and below 60% by the end of its 2003 fiscal year.

Del Webb stalled on entering into any new community investments during the past two years to further reduce its leverage, Hanneman says.