Volumetric Building Companies (VBC), announced that the company has received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) to purchase Katerra, Inc. assets, including the lease and tenant improvement of their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and offices in Tracy, Calif. Katerra filed for bankruptcy protection on June 6, 2021 and the transaction is part of a court supervised sale of its assets.
The 577,000 square foot Tracy, Calif. factory, which opened in 2019, is a highly automated production facility designed for the manufacturing of building components, including wall panels, floor systems, roof trusses, windows, cabinets and countertops. The newly built offices and showrooms include 50,000 square feet of custom fit-out and furnishings, conference rooms, model display areas and office suites.
“With the continued growth and success of VBC, we were exploring options to expand our manufacturing footprint and industry influence,” said Vaughan Buckley, Chief Executive Officer of VBC. “Katerra’s Tracy location provides an exceptional opportunity to bring our hands-on construction and manufacturing expertise to a state-of-the-art facility and build our presence on the West Coast. We look forward to moving quickly to allow displaced staff members to return to work, restart production and support the needs of a very robust construction environment.”
VBC is encouraging former Katerra employees to apply to work at the Tracy location as it reopens and begins production. VBC is looking to begin manufacturing of windows, cabinetry, countertops, trusses & panelized building components in 60–90 days and has plans to produce modular housing components in 2022.
“Katerra’s bankruptcy and the shutdown of the Tracy location significantly impacted its employees as well as a wide range of customers,” added Buckley. “We are hopeful that we can provide jobs to many of those employees and help address the needs of those customers. We well understand the current state of play in the construction sector and our goal is to provide great products, superior service and customized solutions for the vibrant California and western U.S. markets.”
