Investor pours $2 million into Barvista Homes

JOHNSTOWN – Barvista Homes, a factory-based homebuilder that started in 2002, recently landed a $2 million investment from a private equity fund.
The cash infusion should allow Barvista ownership to hire more workers and invest in its plant in the Gateway Industrial Park, moves that should boost sales to $15 million this year.
Barvista reported $9 million in sales in 2003.
“It lets us reach out to some markets we haven’t been reaching,” Mick Barker, president and founder of the company, said of the new financing.
With the additional cash, Barker expects to spend up to $100,000 on capital improvements for his Johnstown plant, located in the Gateway Industrial Park. But most of the money will go into supplies and people.
Barvista finished 2003 with 70 employees. “We will increase to over 100,” Barker said.
Barvista’s chief benefactor is New York-based Enhanced Capital Partners, which has targeted Colorado companies for investments in recent months. In the past six months, Enhanced Capital – which has a Denver office – has put money into six different companies in Colorado. Currently, Enhanced Capital has about $22 million invested in state businesses.
Enhanced Capital executive David Orlandella said his firm was attracted by Barvista’s business model, which he called “a disruptive approach to a multibillion-dollar industry.”
Factory-built or systems-built housing is well ensconced in Europe and Japan, where it represents up to half of new homes built. But it hasn’t broken through as a mainstream contributor to the North American market.
Enhanced Capital is betting $2 million that it can.
One cause for faith is Barvista’s pricing.
Barvista delivers single-family houses at prices 10 percent to 20 percent lower than standard “site-built” houses, the company claims. Barvista cuts costs by building homes inside a 103,000-square-foot factory, then transports the home to a waiting foundation.
Barker contends that his process saves time – 60 days to build a house instead of six-to-nine months. The process is expedited by working in a controlled environment with a regulated assembly process.
Barvista’s homes sell for up to $500,000. One of Barvista’s customers was a golf course near Aspen, which purchased a clubhouse and pro shop last year. The builder has also constructed multifamily housing.

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