Illinois Homebuilder Bankrupt

Illinois-based homebuilder The Kirk Corporation just filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the US bankruptcy code. The Chicago construction firm says it need to reshuffle operations in order to secure credit lines to service the sales of recently built homes. The employee-run firm states the decision is being made on a voluntary basis. Day-to-day operations at Kirk Homes will likely continue as normal, said CEO John Carroll. “We are confident that the reorganization process gives us more opportunity to work with our lenders JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and others, and to secure additional financing, which will allow us to continue building high quality homes for Chicago area homeowners for many years to come,” he said. “We enter this process with strong fundamentals, robust sales at many of our communities and the continued commitment of our employee owners to work through this temporary situation and emerge as an even stronger organization.” Carroll said that Kirk Homes’ standing inventory is significantly less than the industry average, and that while under the protection provided by the filing, the company will complete homes currently under construction, begin new construction on recently sold homes and continue new home sales and marketing. Construction is expected to start on any sold homes that have not already begun construction within the first 60 days of reorganization. Kirk Homes also will seek to sell its non-residential properties at a variety of sites in Northern Illinois. Write to Jacob Gaffney.