Rilington Communities
A Solid foundation
By Carol Park
Cathedral City-based Rilington Communities founder and CEO Mickie Riley got into the construction business despite his father's advice to stay out of it.
Focused and driven, Riley knew he wanted to own a business. But his father, a house painter and carpenter by trade, advised him to stay out of the construction industry.
So Riley moved to San Diego from Northern California in 1971 and worked at a restaurant hoping he would learn the culinary craft and eventually open his own eatery.
"When I came to San Diego, I thought about owning a restaurant business but I soon realized that wasn't why I moved to paradise," Riley recalled. "I didn't want to be locked in a restaurant all day. I was making more money on the side pouring concrete and building patios than I was at the restaurant."
Brighton Ridge -- San Marcos, CA
So Riley quit the restaurant business and went to work for a construction company despite his father's advice. Riley learned the ropes of the construction industry while he worked for three companies between 1972 and 1989.
"I went through all aspects of the construction business," he said. "I went from a framer to an equipment operator, from a customer representative to a superintendent and from a project manager to the point where my last position was as a Senior Vice President for a company in Santa Monica."
Riley struck out on his own and founded Rilington Communities in 1989. Together with his wife Hansi, Senior Vice President, the Riley's built up the company from an office he built on his land in San Diego.
"She helped me through the years not only as a partner professionally but also personally," Riley said. "She's my rock and she's instrumental in the business."
At first, Riley and his wife worked on problem projects and helped companies finish developments. As time passed, Rilington Communities gained a reputation for quality and service.
Prado -- Coachella, CA
"We want to deliver the best house for the best prices and build a home for a family not just a house," Riley said.
"Rilington's commitment to design and value engineering makes them a pleasure to work with," Dahlin Group Principle Nancy Keenan said. "Rilington creates a unique look and feel for each community,"
California-based architect firm the Dahlin Group worked with Rilington Communities on several housing developments in San Diego and the Coachella Valley.
Today, Riley is a veteran of the construction industry. With more than 35 years experience, Riley's innovative style has made him a leader in the industry.
Riley, a family man and a dog lover, named his company by combining his dog's name with his last name.
"It's a little strange how I came up with the name, but I had a Belgian German Sheppard named Remington and we were going to name the company Riley, but builders and developers have egos and we didn't want to have an ego," he joked. "So as I was sitting there petting my dog, I came up with Rilington."
Since Rilington Communities' humble beginnings, the firm has built houses in Palm Desert, Temecula, San Marcos, Indio and Fallbrook.
Today, Rilington Communities is run by Riley, his wife, son-in-law, daughters and sons. Rilington's core business is entry level and move up single family detached houses. The company is a Green builder and committed to do all Green building, Riley said.
"We feel strongly about this," he said. "I'm a developer but I'm also conscious of the environment. We have to be responsible; it's our planet."
Dolce -- Palm Desert, CA
Riley's son-in-law, Wesley Ahlgren, is spearheading the company's Green efforts. Ahlgren is Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Rilington Communities.
Riley is close to his six children. Riley built his business with his family in mind. Four of his children work at the company while the other two help when they can.
"Our business is our family," Riley said. "I don't want to forget my roots and how I started, I never want to lose focus on what's important; faith, family friends and health."
The entrepreneurial spirit took hold of Riley at a young age. He started a lawn mower business when he was a young boy. He rented lawn mowers from the parents of his friends for a small sum, paid his friends to mow lawns, collected the fees and turned a small profit. He was 12-years-old at the time.
"I realized, there's opportunity as long as you take it," he said. "From that point forward I was always doing stuff, I always had a business. Even in high school I would make some money by building a patio cover."
Brighton Ridge -- San Marcos, CA
Crossing over
Although the company is based in Cathedral City, Rilington Communities is relatively new to the Inland Empire. The firm was based in San Diego until it moved to Cathedral City in 2005.
"Right around 2002 I had a real serious concern that the market was difficult in San Diego at best because of approvals, competition from larger public companies, regulations, entitlements and a variety of other reasons," Riley said. "So, although we were doing well we decided to relocate where there was a future for our business. We didn't intend to move away from San Diego, but when we came to the desert, we liked it and made the decision that we would build here."
When the company moved to Cathedral City, it brought 45 employees and a plethora of knowledge, skills and experience to the local community.
At first, Riley and Hansi wanted to commute from their home in San Diego to Cathedral City. But as time passed, the couple found themselves spending more and more time in the Coachella Valley.
"If you were to have asked me if I would live here full-time five years ago I would have said no," Hansi Riley admitted. "But when we came here, we liked the subtle things; we liked the availability of services, the tennis, golf and the resort type atmosphere. We loved the weather. We liked the people, we liked the opportunities and we still feel this is the best place for us to be personally and business wise. San Diego may be a paradise, but we love the Coachella Valley, it's like being on vacation everyday here; we were enamored."
Branching out
"In 2008, Rilington, like all other builders, public and private, faces serious market challenges," Riley said. New construction is almost at a standstill but Mickie Riley sees this as an opportunity. He has formed the Rilington Development Service Division to handle bank foreclosures and build-outs. This new division is in response to a qualified need in the industry.
The new division is a full service fee builder and development management company. The division focuses on four core areas; traditional fee building, project completion, project hibernation and REO services.
To survive a company "has to be flexible and respond to the market and come up with solutions," Riley said. "What's going to happen is there will be a lot of people that are going to end up with property that they won't know what to do with. So we will offer as many services they will need through the Rilington Development Service Division."
The real estate industry is cyclical, Riley continued. When the industry went south in the early 1990s Riley learned how to deal with a downturn.
He also learned how to be versatile. When framing sub-contractors were in short supply in 2005, Riley formed a framing company under the Rilington banner to handle the rapid pace of growth, Ahlgren said.
"That same year as water truck fees increased exponentially, Rilington bought its own water trucks and hired its own drivers," Ahlgren added.
That tenacity, positive thinking and perseverance has kept the company running strong.
"If I've learned anything, it's a sort of Abraham Lincoln philosophy; failure breeds success," Riley said. "I'm a calculating risk taker; I take it but I pay attention to it with an abundant amount of tenacity. I've also learned that when you hit a wall, don't stop, don't let a change in the market stop you. You got to respond because it could spring into other opportunities."
Riley is optimistic about the future despite the slow economy and the near standstill in the construction industry.
"It's a very exciting time," he said. "I'm doing fantastic; there's an empty canvas, you can pick colors and paint. Things are not easy, things are tough, but there's nothing but opportunity and nothing but bright things ahead."
Fruits of labor
Over the years, Rilington Communities won several awards including a "Builder of the Year" award from the Building Industry Association in 2006, numerous sales awards, PRISM Awards and ADDY awards. Last year Mickie Riley was recognized with the Building Industry's "Industry Leader of the Year Award".
The company also continues to support the YMCA and American Heart Association. Rilington Communities also actively supports and participates in the Women Running Wild event, a breast cancer race and walk held annually in Palm Springs every April. The event raises money for the Suzanne Jackson Breast Cancer Fund. That fund provides free breast cancer screening services to women in the Coachella Valley.
"We feel it's our obligation and duty to be involved and to give back to the community," Hansi Riley said. "Because of our diversification efforts and our ability to adapt to the changing market we plan to continue and expand our community involvement once the market turns back around, we're in it for the long haul."
Dolce -- Palm Desert, CA
May 2008 Issue