Operator
The next question comes from the line of Michael Reinhardt with JP Morgan. Please go ahead with your question.
Michael Reinhardt, JP Morgan
Thanks. Most of my questions have been answered, I guess. Just wanted to, you know, circle back to some comments that, you know, you have made over the last twelve, eighteen months, about, you know, some of the asset purchases and overall portfolio-ship that you have, kind of, referred to, in terms of the land investment strategy that you have done. And, in particular, I am thinking about some of the asset purchases, you know, that you have highlighted in California – Palm Creek, for example. Also the reactivation of the Ins Prada and, you know, some of the Vegas properties there, which, you know, you have referred to as good cost bases.
What I am trying to get to is, you know, with this kind of pushing out of the 20% of gross margin goal – it would have seen that before, and you kind of walked through what the drivers were in terms of the gross margin outlook for the next few quarters. The fact is that you have been caught right now by a little bit softer pricing relative to cost, but you would have seen that at the same time that you had positive momentum in this portfolio-ship from some of the purchases, again, that I mentioned. I guess, the question here is, you know, were those assets generating a 20% gross margin or better? Had things changed? Was the goal of achieving 20% in some ways dependent on, you know, the price inflation? Because it appears that there is something a little bit off relative to the expectations 12 months ago.
Jeff Mezger, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mike, as we are always sure with this group. We don’t underwrite with inflation. We don’t. I always take the view, if your price goes up, your cost goes up with it, and if you link this to the comments we have made on the pressure under axe. If we acquired a community, we underwrite a community about the lots opening for sale – and the western side of the Inland Empire as an example – and you get a point of price pressure and a point or two of cost pressure, you are not at a 20% margin. It’s not that you under grow it; you had some changes in the input data, I’ll say, from when you acquired it.
The other thing that goes on and Jeff touched on it – we had a couple of communities close out in the 4th Quarter, that were acquisitions in California that we made back in 2012, where in some cases they were finished lots and we built through those. In the typical life cycle of a quarter it would open up at or below the 20% as you get momentum in the community and it would close out well above 20%. That’s what happened with those that closed out in the 4th Quarter and we have this turn over going on where a lot of communities are closing out and the new ones are opening up at lower margins, and we expect as they mature, and we get into the year, and they are opened longer, then you see the margin left.
Michael Reinhardt, JP Morgan
I appreciate that. I guess, you know, with some of those, you know, the Plum Creek and the others that you highlighted at the last analyst day, you know, are the margin expectations intact as we sit here today, in terms of, I would assume, being above 20% , you know? Perhaps if you can also talk about Las Vegas and what the contribution might be there, over the next couple of years? Is that business perhaps close relative to the overall mix of closings? Would that also be a positive contributor to your margin mix?
Jeff Mezger, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mike, when you touched on Plum Creek and you said, is it over 20% – we just opened it in the 4th Quarter. We never said when we bought it, it was over 20%, so, I can tell you it’s not over 20% today. But for the most part, our new acquisitions are performing within a range. Some are better, some are not as good as when we underwrote them and that’s the part of your portfolio of business. You keep flogging things where you are below, and capitalize on where you are above. When it comes to Las Vegas, as I mentioned in a comment before, the market is holding well for us; Ins Prada, in particular is selling very well right now. If you think of Vegas, relative to my comment on the seasoning of communities and how they would open a little under but that they would exceed over time – that happened with some that closed out in the 4th Quarter.
If you go to Vegas, we closed out a lot of communities in the 1st Quarter of last year – where we had previously had a lot of price run up on assets that we had purchased opportunistically below cost of replacement – and we had some very very strong margins in Vegas, Q-1 of last year, well above 20%. As you watch Ins Prada, which is now open, and I think we are now just getting into deliveries out there. It would become a big part of that business; we will see it lift our margins in Las Vegas, if not for the company.
Operator
Thank you. At this time I will turn the floor back to the management for closing comments.
Jeff Mezger, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Ok. I would again like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. We look forward to sharing our success in the future as the year unfolds. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. This concludes today’s teleconference. You may now disconnect your mic this time. Let me thank you for your participation.
