BMHC Looks For Fast Asset Sales

Looking for quick infusions of cash to meet its credit obligations, BMC West parent Building Materials Holding Corp., San Francisco, Ca., is aggressively marketing "excess" vehicles and real estate holdings and closely evaluating all its business segments.

The company's sales fell 4l%o in the second quarter, leading to a $31.9 million loss and placing it in default of two financial covenants of its credit facility. BMHC obtained a temporary waiver Aug. 8, permitting it to borrow up to $60 million until September 30, while it negotiated for a permanent amendment to the facility.

During the summer, BMHC expected to raise about $7 million from the sale of excess vehicles. Over the next 24 months, it will also be placing up for sale about $40 million of excess real estate in Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona. Real estate sales should net about $l million later this year, $26 million in 2009, and $13 million in 2010.

BMHC will also close its regional construction services subsidiary SelectBuild Florida by the end of

November. Hammered by a massive drop-off in housing starts in the state, the division is BMHC's most troubled. But every operating unit is now under the microscope, according to chairman and c.e.o. Robert E. Mellor. "We'11 look inside of those to see where we believe that we have operations that are not EBITDA generating and to the extent that they are not doing that and they're not able to fix that in the very, very near term, they're candidates for consolidation, restructuring or shut down."

Riley Creek Buys JD Mill

JD Lumber is shuttering its Priest River. Id.. sawmill this month and selling the facility, land, equipment and timber contracts to Riley Creek Lumber.

JD will retain its forestry staff and clerk to facilitate their log suppliers' transition to Riley Creek.

"Due to the continuing poor market for finished lumber, we have decided to accept an offer from Riley Creek Lumber to purchase our sawmill," Jeff Weimer and Dave Slaughter said in a statement. "We will cease operaton of the JD Lumber mill effective September 2008."

They said future operations of the facility, which employs over 200, will be evaluated in the spring.

Riley Creek recently merged with Bennett Forest Industries, with four mills in northern ldaho (see Aug., p. -lJ). Soon after, Riley Creek's Moyie Springs, Id., mill added an I l-man second shift, upping production by 25Vo.

"What the merger has done is given us a little more horsepower to be more aggressive in obtaining and building relationships with large customers," said Jesse Short, Moyie Springs plant manager.

Potlatch Spinning Off Pulp

Potlatch Corp.'s board of directors has unanimously approved its plan to pursue a tax-free spin-off of its pulpbased businesses into a publicly-traded company called Clearwater Paper Corp. The spin-off is subject to final board approval based on regulatory, market and other conditions.

A spin-off will create two standalone, publicly-traded entities: a timber REIT, with 1.7 million acres of forestland in Arkansas. Idaho.

Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a pulpbased manufacturing company that includes Potlatch' s Consumer Products facilities in Lewiston. Id.: Las Vegas, Nv., and Elwood, Il., and its Pulp & Paperboard facilities in Lewiston and Cypress Bend, Ar.

Michael J. Covey will remain chairman, president and c.e.o. of Potlatch. Gordon Jones will be president and c.e.o. of Clearwater. Potlatch will remain headquartered in Spokane, Wa., and Clearwater will be based at new offies in the Spokane area.

Blaze Consumes LSV Office

Lane Stanton Vance suffered an early morning fire Aug. 18 at its contractor division branch in San Marcos, Ca.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the office portion of the warehouse, saving all inventory and limiting damage to about $75,000.

The cause is under investieation.

Multi-family Building Green

More of the nation's apartments and condos are going green as multifamily builders and developers respond to growing consumer interest in sustainable building practices, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders.

"Apartments and condos are inherently green, because they offer more compact development to begin with," said Steve Patterson, chairman of NAHB's Multi-family Leadership Board and a developer from Orlando, Fl. "With today's heightened consumer interest in green, multi-family builders are embracing more green and recyclable products, and are more willing to invest in energy efficiency."

Whlle 14Vo of survey respondents said that buyers and renters are willing to pay more for green amenities, the median additional amount they are willing to pay is only about27o.

Roughly 897o of multi-family builders and developers said they are installing energy-efficient appliances and lighting in their communities. The survey also found:

.797o are using windows with lowE glass

. 647o are using recycled and recyclable products

5OVo are using significantly more insulation than required by the building code-a number that rises to 70Vo of West Coast respondents.