Cover Update: Renovation Redux

Cover Update: Renovation Redux

The last four months of 2007 marked a busy phase of what's become a comprehensive makeover for Lakewood Ranch-based Kesselring Holding Corp.

And that makes sense, considering the company is striving to be a national leader in restoring and renovating commercial buildings. It's a mission the company has been on to some degree since 1976, but it has been updated under a new ownership and management team, that among other changes, has led the once-privately held company to become publicly traded.

Since Aug. 31, the company has introduced a new logo and a redesigned Web site. It also refined its acquisition and growth strategy.

What's more, the company reported a $3 million-plus backlog in jobs for a door and woodworking subsidiary it owns in Yakima, Wash., as well as announcing a letter of intent to buy a 35-year-old, $9 million, Florida-based roofing company. Kesselring declined to reveal the name or location of the company, as the deal isn't scheduled to be completed until next year.

Kesselring, with about 150 employees, including subcontractors, and $9.4 million in revenues through June, hopes to continue its makeover in 2008, as well as grow its revenues and presence in various construction related industries, executives say. It doesn't plan on being slowed down by the residential housing slump, which in some cases has reached into the commercial real estate industry.

"Our business model doesn't rely on the housing market for sustaining revenues and sustaining growth," says Doug Badertscher, who was hired as chief executive officer of the company Aug. 15.

Instead, Badertscher says the business model now revolves around restoring, renovating and reconstructing commercial and high-density structures nationwide.

The company has those structures broken down into six sections: Hospitality, which includes resorts, hotels and casinos; health care, which includes hospitals and nursing homes; lifestyle living, made up of condo associations, senior living centers and apartment buildings; retail which includes strip malls and shopping centers; commercial, made up of industrial parks and office buildings; and civic, which includes military bases, schools and churches.

It's an ambitious list, with even more sub-sectors, but the company believes it's manageable if it can successfully execute the acquisition phase of its business model. That is, buying other construction-related companies specializing in disciplines such as roofing, heating and air conditioning and doors and windows in various areas of the country.

The goal, Badertscher says, is to find companies that are at least 10 years old and have a good reputation and customer base.

"We are not just putting dots on a map," says Badertscher. "We are building key components."

-Mark Gordon