The soft-spoken developer behind Rancho San Juan
By LARRY PARSONS
Herald Staff Writer
As a young man in Tehran, years before the 1979 revolution toppled the Iranian government that employed his father, Mohammad "Moe" Nobari knew he wanted to be a builder.
That desire eventually led Nobari to set his sights on about 700 acres of rolling farmland just north of Salinas. That happened 25 years ago, when Monterey County officials were first proposing the area for major growth.
Nobari acquired the land from Hartnell College and a Salinas-area ranching family and hopes to build what he calls Butterfly Village there.
With 1,077 homes and apartments, Nobari's residential-golf community would be the first phase of the sprawling Rancho San Juan development.
"There are two things I like in life, construction and being my own boss," said Nobari, a 56-year-old developer-contractor who lives in the Marin County community of Tiburon.
"I like the business -- building something from the ground up," Nobari said. "When I was young, I thought that was the best thing you can do in life, be constructive, be useful and build something that would last."
As lead developer in the Rancho San Juan proposal, Nobari occupies the point in a land-use fight that has smoldered for more than a decade.
The battle will heat up again next month, as the county Planning Commission holds two days of hearings on the latest plan for 2,600 acres on Salinas' northern border.
Nobari, who won a lawsuit to force the county to keep moving on Rancho San Juan, discussed the project and his background in an interview last week.
Development potential|
Born into an Iranian business family, Nobari started in construction while he was still living in Iran. His first job was tutoring math students, but he soon turned to the building industry.
His father, a lawyer and engineer, and other family members had to flee Iran before the fall of Shah Reza Pahlavi's government in 1979. But Nobari had been living in the United States since 1973, studying business at Santa Clara University.
He received his master's degree in 1976, but unrest at home kept him in the United States.
"It affected all of us," Nobari said. "You have to start anew. It does give you a sense of appreciation for what you have here."
While attending school in Santa Clara, Nobari became aware of the development potential in nearby Monterey County.
There was a predicted shortage of 12,000 housing units, a move to diversify the economy and a county plan to grow northeast of Salinas, he said.
"I know there was a good potential for business. I got involved," Nobari said.
Though Rancho San Juan has been a fiercely debated, political punching bag almost from the beginning, Nobari said he never gave a thought to walking away from the project.
He refused to say how much money he has invested in the project or how much he hopes to gain. But Nobari still believes in the original growth vision.
"It's still a great plan. It has gotten better," he said.
Biggest project|
In 1988, HYH Corp., one of about a dozen of Nobari's development and construction companies, bought 154 acres in the Rancho San Juan area from Hartnell College for $1 million. The money was used to endow a Hartnell scholarship fund.
Nobari also has spent about $575,000 on Rancho San Juan planning efforts, said his attorney, Mark Blum.
A soft-spoken man who favors conservative business suits, Nobari appeared peeved when directly asked how much he is worth.
"It doesn't make a difference about what kind of person I am," he said. "Try to judge me by my character, not by my pocketbook."
Nobari has built other residential projects in Marin, Sonoma and Sacramento counties -- about 500 homes in all. He employs only five people, hardly a development empire, he said.
Butterfly Village, a name designed to convey an image of "a friendly community of people and wildlife in harmony together," would be the biggest project of Nobari's career.
Nobari bought some of the land from Andrew Hollenstain, whose family was a major landholder in the Rancho San Juan area.
Hollenstain said he was looking to sell and met Nobari through a friend in Silicon Valley whose daughter was married to Nobari's brother.
"I've seen some of the developments he did in (Marin County's) Lucas Valley," Hollenstain said. "We got together."
Vision kept|
At one point, Nobari gave Hollenstain a book put together by his family that chronicled the last years of the shah's government through letters and newspaper articles.
"They were an old Persian family and they got the hell out," Hollenstain said, before Iran fell to Islamic fundamentalists who still control the country today.
People who have known and worked with Nobari over the years describe him almost in Boy Scout terms. They say he's courteous, low-key, unflappable and not the kind of developer who tries to throw his weight around.
Former county Supervisor Marc Del Piero said Nobari is "a very nice man at the personal level."
There's no high pressure with Nobari, Del Piero said. "He seems honest and upfront."
Michael Hitchcock, a Walnut Creek planning consultant, worked with Nobari on a Petaluma project and was one of Monterey County's first planners for Rancho San Juan.
"He's a very hard worker," Hitchcock said. "We worked quite long hours."
Hitchcock said Nobari keeps his goals in mind and is unflagging in their pursuit.
"He's worked on this thing for 25 years, and it's gone up and down," Hitchcock said. "He's kept his planning vision."
Del Sala, who ran a family dairy in the Rancho San Juan area until two years ago, described Nobari as "easy to get along with."
"He's a down-to-earth guy," Sala. "All he wants to do is get some money out of it."
Sala leases part of Nobari's property to grow strawberries. He said it's always been a handshake deal.
Current North County Supervisor Lou Calcagno said Nobari "is a cautious individual who cares about how people feel."
"He comes out low-key and soft-spoken," Calcagno said. "He doesn't want to offend."
Political contributions|
Others view Nobari as a shrewd businessman who rallied other Rancho San Juan property owners to put up a united front to help the project. And they note that his 2001 lawsuit against the county kept the project rolling.
Nobari flashed displeasure at the insinuation he's just an out-of-town developer trying to milk money out of Monterey County. "It's patently unfair and shortsighted," he said.
Two decades of working the project has given him a network of friends in the county, he said. He's also paid a lot of taxes on his still-undeveloped land.
"I'm really part of this county. I've spent most of my adult life working here," he said.
Since 1979, Nobari has made campaign contributions totaling $17,200 to six Monterey County supervisors, including current board members Calcagno and Fernando Armenta. The earliest contributions were made in 1986; the most recent came in 2002.
Former supervisors to whom Nobari contributed were Tom Perkins, Barbara Shipnuck, Del Piero and Simon Salinas, now a state assemblyman.
County records show Nobari gave $2,400 to Shipnuck, $3,750 to Del Piero, $1,000 to Salinas, and $200 to Perkins.
Nobari has contributed $5,750 to Calcagno since 1998 and $100 to Armenta.
Nobari says his campaign contributions -- which are modest compared to contributions made by some development firms to local politicians -- are a matter of civic participation and not a way to win support for Rancho San Juan.
"It's part of being a good citizen," Nobari said.
'Difficult' place to work|
Nobari and his wife, Parvaneh, have two adult children. Their daughter is a dentist and their son is a neurosurgeon.
But Nobari doesn't dwell on his children's accomplishments. That's also in keeping with his character. People who know Nobari said he's never flashy or one to shoot off his mouth.
"I think he's a real nice guy," Sala said. "He's upfront with you."
Nobari has only two vehicles to drive, a sport utility vehicle and a 1990 Mercedes.
Asked about hobbies, he said, "I wear jeans and go to the construction site."
That's all?
"I play tennis," he said. "I like walking and skiing."
Nobari would rather talk about Butterfly Village than his hobbies. He said people should really look at his proposal, rather than make snap judgments or "hide behind no-growth" rhetoric.
Though Nobari is optimistic about his project's chances with current county supervisors, he has been around Monterey County long enough to appreciate its complicated land-use politics.
"It's very hard and very unpredictable," he said.
To demonstrate, Nobari told a story about a conversation he had with another developer. He told his colleague that he was working on a project in Monterey County.
"Oh what a hard place," the other developer said. "It's harder than Marin (County)."
"I'm doing one there, too," Nobari told the other developer.
Finishing the anecdote, Nobari smiled and said, "Maybe it is written that I have to work where it is difficult."
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