Alamo City KB Office Loses its President

By Aïssatou Sidimé - San Antonio Express-News December 11, 2008

KB Home's San Antonio division president has left the company.

Craig Westmoreland, who had been president of the KB Home San Antonio division since 2003, "left his position" Tuesday, according to company spokeswoman Cathy Teague. His position will not be filled.

Instead, Ken Langston, president of the KB Home Austin division and a 16-year KB veteran, will become president of the Central Texas region, covering San Antonio and Austin.

San Antonio and Austin will keep separate division offices, Teague said.

Langston is a San Antonio native who held leadership roles for seven years in the San Antonio division before going to Austin.

Teague would not discuss whether more staffing changes will occur.

Brett Dietz, executive vice president of operations for the San Antonio division, will oversee day-to-day operations of KB's 14 San Antonio subdivision sales centers, the KB Home Studio, the warranty department and construction team.

"We are still going to operate our division, and Austin will operate its division," Teague said Wednesday evening.

Westmoreland, a Floresville native, came to the San Antonio division as executive vice president in early 2003 and was named president later that year.

Early in his tenure, he made the strategic decision that the company wouldn't just build homes but would focus on the community and quality of life.

"Buyers were telling us that the neighborhood was as important to the quality of life as their house and the features they choose for their house," Teague told the San Antonio Express-News for an article in 2007. "It's a growing trend."

Since then, the builder's newer communities have incorporated walking trails, pools and playgrounds along with workout stations.

The San Antonio division also became an Energy Star Builder and received the industry's National Housing Quality Certification four years in a row.

But Westmoreland's tenure was not without controversy. KB Home has been the subject of protracted legal and community scrutiny regarding problems in homes built in the San Antonio Housing Authority's Mirasol community on the West Side before Westmoreland's arrival.

Last month, the builder announced it would add smaller, lower-priced homes in two of its newest neighborhoods, Sundance Trails and Sundance Ridge near Loop 1604 and Potranco Road. The decision has sparked ongoing protests from existing homeowners in that community.