By JESSICA TOLEDANO

Staff Reporter

Just as Ahmanson Land Co. was finally clearing the final hurdles toward getting its sprawling Ahmanson Ranch project approved, after more than a decade of efforts, another wrench was thrown into the works.

H.F. Ahmanson & Co., the parent of Ahmanson Land, was sold to Washington Mutual Inc., a Seattle-based thrift giant with no real estate development operations.

That $9.9 billion acquisition closed in early October, and just a month later, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved Ahmanson Land’s plan to develop 5,433 acres of land on the eastern edge of Ventura County.

As a result, Washington Mutual suddenly found itself with a massive project, approved and ready for groundbreaking, in a market it had just penetrated for the first time.

Opponents of the project had hoped that the sale would give them an opportunity to stop or amend the grand-scale community. But Washington Mutual officials say they have no plans to stop or downsize the project.

It was early last year that Ahmanson Ranch successfully acquired Runkle Ranch near Simi Valley and Corral Canyon near Malibu from entertainer Bob Hope. Acquiring that acreage was seen as critical for Ahmanson Land, which had promised to dedicate the land as open space in exchange for government approval of the adjacent Ahmanson Ranch project.

Washington Mutual has retained the key staff at Ahmanson Land including Guy Gniadek, who has been working on the project for 12 years and runs the day-to-day operations.

Gniadek said the company is reviewing various business proposals from developers, but no final decisions have been made.

“This whole project is very new to Washington Mutual,” said Adrian Rodriguez, spokesman for the financial institution. “They knew the project had been ongoing and knew about the situation. They are getting up to speed quickly and the project plans are well underway.”

Plans for the Ahmanson Ranch development were initially approved in 1992, but the company was tangled up in dozens of lawsuits that had held up construction.