Interim Operating Loan for Baldwin Co. OKd

An interim $1-million operating loan sufficient for payroll, insurance premiums and other immediate bills was approved Monday for bankrupt Newport Beach home builder Baldwin Co. But the company’s request for approval of a new credit line of up to $10 million was put off until May 23.

The home builder, under control of a trustee since early this month, needs the credit to resume construction and complete improvements at several projects in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The company already owes its lenders $85 million and has had virtually no cash since it used up that credit line earlier this year.

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robin Riblet also scheduled a May 23 hearing on Baldwin trustee David Gould’s request to hire Southland building industry veteran James Johnson to take over daily operations at Baldwin Co.

Johnson, a turnaround specialist, has been president of Lusk Co., another old-line, family-owned Newport Beach home builder, since the end of 1992.

Brothers James and Alfred Baldwin own the Baldwin Co., but were removed from their operating positions May 4, when Gould was named trustee at the insistence of company creditors.