Southern Building Products Inc., Florida’s largest maker of roof and floor trusses, has filed for chapter 11, the latest victim of a slowdown in the U.S. housing market, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The company said that its sales revenue fell from a high of $33 million in 2005 to $11.6 million in 2007. When lender Bank Atlantic froze its line of credit, Southern Building said that a chapter 11 reorganization became its “only alternative to maximize return to all creditors.” Bank Atlantic is owed more than $5.8 million, according to court papers.

Everglades-themed restaurant operator R.J. Gator’s and 10 companies it controls filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday, MSN.com reported yestereday. The Jupiter, Fla.-based chain of restaurants has $3 million in debt and assets of about the same amount. The company’s largest unsecured creditor is Sysco Corp., a Riviera Beach, Fla.-based food distributor, with $1.3 million in unpaid billings. R.J. Gator’s has 23 restaurants, but only eight are owned by the parent company and included in the chapter 11 filing. The company may close restaurants as it recapitalizes and gets rid of unprofitable sectors, but there are no immediate plans to lay off any of the company’s 410 employees.

See Also:  Bankruptcy Lawyers New York