Baldwin Gets New Extension of Financing

Baldwin Co., the financially beleaguered home builder, has received another extension of its interim financing plan while it awaits an $85-million loan to start it on the road out of bankruptcy.

The new loan from a group that includes Foothill Capital Corp. and three of Baldwin Co.’s largest institutional bondholders is expected to be funded on or before Jan. 16. Baldwin Co. plans to use the proceeds to pay off a nearly $70-million debt to former lender General Electric Capital Corp. and to resume its building activities.

General Electric stopped funding Baldwin in late November. Since then, the Newport Beach builder has been paying ongoing expenses, including a nearly $900,000-per-month payroll, under a plan approved by a bankruptcy court that gives it access to home sales proceeds formerly earmarked to help repay the debt to GE.

Baldwin Co. has laid off about 40 employees since filing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization petition last July, cutting its payroll to about 250 positions. The company continues “looking for ways to make cuts” in operating costs and cannot rule out further layoffs, a spokeswoman said.

Baldwin Co. has projects in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The federal bankruptcy court in Santa Barbara, a branch of the central court in Los Angeles, is handling the company’s bankruptcy case.