Barratt back from bankruptcy

Barratt American, headed by Michael D. ?Mick? Pattinson, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 when it lost its $125 million line of credit for numerous housing projects, including some in San Diego County. Pattinson and his partners have restarted the Carlsbad company as The Barratt Group with the goal of acquiring uncompleted projects and putting them back on the market. The first offering is The Villas at Montecito, a 28-unit townhome project in Atascadero in San Luis Obispo County.

The U-T asked Pattinson about Barratt?s past and future. Here are excerpts from his answers…

Q: How will The Barratt Group differ from Barratt American?

A: The Barratt Group will be a much smaller business, at least for the time being. Initially there are six of us working to get the company started putting in sweat equity to get us off the ground: myself, Mike Armstrong, Bob Cummings, John LaRaia, Joe Barbano, Peter Nedley. Our initial funding comes from private investors. We have the 28-unit townhome project in Atascadero under way, and last week we were awarded a small six-unit affordable-housing contract in Long Beach. We are also buying and fixing up foreclosures. Barratt American was a pure home-building, for-sale company operating in Southern California only. The Barratt Group will not be limited geographically, and we will take on other sectors of the residential industry, such as senior living, which is the growth part of our industry, and rental development.