Robert Harris Homes, the industry’s 135th-largest builder in closings in 2007, has suspended its operations, BUILDER has confirmed.
Last week, the Woodstock, Ga.-based builder, which was founded in 1994, informed its field sales agents and brokers by email that it was closing its doors. The company’s Web site is no longer accessible. Marcie Saunders, the company’s former director of marketing, said in a telephone interview this morning that she was no longer employed by the company and that it was her understanding that Robert Harris Homes had suspended operations. Tim McReynolds, the builder’s vice president of sales and marketing, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that he had been let go after joining the company in December.
Saunders referred other questions to Robert Harris, the company’s owner; and Joey Hipp, its president and COO. Neither responded to calls from BUILDER seeking comment. Robert Harris Homes had retained CRG Partners, a turnaround specialist, to help renegotiate the terms of its debt with creditors. “We were unsuccessful, and the company decided to close its doors,” says John Sumner, a CRG executive, from his office in Charlotte, N.C. (As of Tuesday afternoon, no company under this builder’s name had filed for protection with Georgia’s bankruptcy courts.)
Sumner referred other questions to Matt Wilson, an Atlanta-area attorney representing Robert Harris Homes. BUILDER could not reach Wilson at presstime, and it remained unclear whether the builder would ultimately attempt a court-sanctioned restructuring or would liquidate.
Last year, Robert Harris Homes closed 337 homes and generated $110 million in revenue. The company was active in Georgia (where it had built homes in 18 communities surrounding the Atlanta market) and Florida, and recently expanded into one market in Texas.
John Caulfield is a senior editor at BUILDER magazine.
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC.
