Ennis Homes files for Chapter 11 - Bakersfield Californian
The family-owned company based in Porterville builds homes throughout the Central Valley, including Bakersfield and Wasco.
Work at the Vineyard Estates development near Central Avenue and 7th Street in Wasco won’t continue, President Brian Ennis said Thursday.
The company had 106 contracted buyers in July, and 27 others who made reservations, according to a news release.
As credit tightened, though, the company lost 58 buyers because it couldn’t start or finish those homes. There are half-built homes in the Wasco tract, and it’s unclear what might happen to them.
Ennis plans to keep building its Eagle Ranch tract at Hageman Road and Jewetta Avenue.
“We’re ready to go back, start back up,” Ennis said. “We’ve put our construction on hold until we got a comfort with where all this was headed, what was going on with the banks. We’re ready to resume construction.”
Ennis pulled just 14 permits for new-home construction in Bakersfield last year, city permit records show. All were pulled nearly a year ago, in March.