Jan. 26--Behind on its bills, boat-maker Twin Vee has been kicked out of its Fort Pierce headquarters, and the company's ex-owner is mulling a return to the boat-building business.

Roger Dunshee, who founded Twin Vee in the mid-1980s and still owns the building where the company was operating, got a court order Jan. 12 to evict his former company. The firm, which made power catamarans, owed about $150,000 in rent and taxes, Dunshee said.

Dunshee sold most of his stake in Twin Vee five years ago to Stonehenge Capital Company LLC in Tampa. At the time, the boat-maker employed about 100 workers.

Dunshee put the 80,000-square-foot building at U.S. 1 and Edwards Road on the market last week. He wants to lease the building for $4 a square foot, but selling the 7.3-acre property also is an option. He's asking $4 million.

If a deal doesn't pan out, Dunshee said he would consider reviving the boat business himself.

"It breaks my heart to see the company go downhill the way that it did, particularly for the employees who had been so loyal for so many years," Dunshee said. "That would be my motivation, to go back into business."

LESS THAN SIX MONTHS AGO, Piper Aircraft Inc. was boasting of its "record-breaking" aircraft sales and ramping up for expansion at its Vero Beach headquarters.

Last week, its top executive confirmed Piper laid off 150 people and put most of its remaining workers on a four-day week.

So what happened?

Piper is caught in the same economic vise that's squeezing the rest of the economy: clamped-down credit markets.

As it turns out, even the wealthy people who buy private planes are having a hard time getting financing. Luxury homes that some buyers once used for collateral on aircraft loans aren't as appealing to banks anymore, Piper spokesman Mark Miller said.

Some Piper dealers in California report that buyers are ready to purchase planes but then can't get a loan.

"People who buy airplanes, they may be recession-resistant, but they're not recession-proof," Miller said.

Last year, Piper reported a 20 percent increase in sales at a time when most of the general-aviation industry was shrinking. But it expects to sell 40 percent fewer planes this year.

In addition to the job cuts, Piper closed for three weeks instead of the normal two during the holidays.

Piper now employs 900 to 1,000 people, according to the company, which would not pinpoint a more precise number.

FROM INDIANTOWN TO HUTCHINSON ISLAND, local homes are going green.

The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties awarded Indiantown Nonprofit Housing a $140,000 grant this month to build affordable-housing projects to green standards. The grant is the largest the foundation has awarded since its inception in 1972.

The money is expected to help residents save on energy costs at Indiantown Nonprofit's for-sale and rental projects.

On the other side of Martin County, Florida Power & Light Co. is giving a green overhaul to a former beach house of the late actress Frances Langford. Crews from FPL will visit the Ocean Boulevard house today to install programmable thermostats, weather stripping and other energy-efficient features to the 40-year-old Malibu-style home.

FPL is donating its services and about $500 in materials as part of a designer showcase to benefit the Children's Home Society. The home, now owned by Phil Greer, will be open to the public for a fee starting Feb. 20.

Eve Samples covers Treasure Coast business. Contact her at The Palm Beach Post, 2101 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart, Fla. 34994; (772) 223-3559; or eve_samples@pbpost.com.

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