The spin-off, according to investor-presentation documents, will be good for the goose as well as the gander, positioning Properties as a pure-play office entity while "enabling BHS to better raise capital on its own."

The bread-and-butter focus for the spin-off will remain the development and ownership of multifamily and single-family homes as well as master-planned communities. CEO Ian Cockwell tells GlobeSt.com that the firm boasts an annual production rate of 1,500 to 2,000 homes per year, stretching across all three categories. He also reports total assets--including housing and land--on the order of $879 million and a playing field centered mostly on the West Coast, specifically, San Diego (where 53% of its portfolio lies); the San Francisco Bay area (18%); and Los Angeles (6%). The firm also has developments in Northern Virginia (23%). The great majority of that portfolio--some $656 million--is owned directly by BHS, with the rest delegated to joint ventures or currently under option.

Cockwell says that there are no plans to move beyond those four established markets--at least not for the immediate future. The short-term focus will be on "expanding within our current markets with the projects we have to date before we look at new markets."

Also speaking for the firm as it seeks new sources of investment is the fact that the same management team has been in place since 1996. They are, in addition to Cockwell, CFO Paul Kerrigan and area leaders John Ryan (San Francisco); Jeff Prostor (Southland/LA); Steve Doyle (San Diego); and Robert Hubbell (Northern Virginia. Cockwell was not available by deadline.