Liens
The bank had been made aware that the company was essentially insolvent and initially indicated they would allow them to operate and use their accounts — and then they changed their mind,” Huntsberger said during the April hearing before Trustee Ron Sticka, whose job is to oversee the Roberts bankruptcy.
The fast-growing Eugene-based construction company got into trouble when it underbid some projects, lost control of its costs on others and got behind on its bookkeeping, Roberts said during that hearing. Still, the company had more than $1 million in cash in its Pacific Continental account in mid-January, so it wrote dozens of checks on that account to pay subcontractors and suppliers, the court records show.
The company, which Micheal’s father, Gale, founded in 1950, built some of the region’s landmark structures, including the Eugene City Hall, Autzen Stadium, two of Valley River Center’s anchor stores and the Bowerman Building at Hayward Field.
The construction company had a 25-year relationship with Pacific Continental, Roberts said in an interview Thursday. Lane County records show that Roberts negotiated and renewed multiple lines of credit with the bank over the years.
The downfall of the company slowed several local construction projects, most notably Arlie & Co.’s $53 million Crescent Village project in northeast Eugene. And the collapse left dozens of subcontractors and suppliers unpaid for work and materials.