Piedmont Lumber & Mill Co. announced today it will sell its remaining lumberyard in Lakeport, Calif., but is investigating whether to reopen in Walnut Creek, where its store was destroyed by fire on March 13.
The sale in Lakeport was to an undisclosed party, Piedmont said in a news release. But the Lake County Newsconfirmed with the owner of Mendo Mill & Lumber that the Ukiah-based company had purchased the Lakeport store. The news release said the new buyer hopes to re-open the facility in early August.
"In addition, Piedmont is working with its insurance carrier and the City of Walnut Creek to analyze and evaluate the potential rebuild of a home center at the Walnut Creek location that tragically burned on March 13," Piedmont said in a news release. "At this time, no decisions have been made related to the Walnut Creek location."
In April, Piedmont sold to Economy Lumber its store in Oakland, where Piedmont Lumber began in 1934. And last week, an auctioneer began selling materials from the Pittsburg store. That facility near Oakland stopped selling materials last fall, and it has been used since then as a corporate office. Another acution is scheduled on Aug. 12 for equipment related to Piedmont's truss operations.
Also recently, Piedmont completed the sale of its Pacheco Door Division to Craftsman Collective, an architectural millwork specialist.
On March 1 Umpqua Bank, Piedmont's lender, filed judicial foreclosure actions against company properties including the Lakeport store, which was a securing property on two loans totaling more than $14.5 million, the Lake County News has reported. The company also is facing a federal lawsuit alleging it has failed to pay benefits to its union-represented workers, the newspaper said.
