Hearings slated in bankruptcy tangle

The federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware was scheduled to review Tuesday issues relating to a proposed sale of two buildings on the former Evergreen International Airlines to Jackson Family Wines.

The buildings are located at 3500 and 3600 Three Mile Lane. In October, Jackson outbid two competitors for them in a phone auction reaching $4.6 million.

The judge will consider a motion by Evergreen Bankruptcy Trustee Alfred Guiliano to complete the sale, an objection by the owner of a landlocked third building seeking an easement through the other two properties, a motion by Yamhill County seeking payment of back taxes, and an objection by the Air Line Pilots Association for satisfaction of liens covering back pay and pension obligations.

Next Tuesday, Nov. 24, it is scheduled to consider sale of three other buildings to Kit Johnston Farms, a Dayton nursery operation.

Johnston submitted the initial bid of $3.1 million for the buildings at 3500 and 3600 Three Mile Lane. But the company dropped out when two competitors began escalating the bidding in rapid-fire $50,000 increments.

It had planned to sell the one at 3500 to the county to house its public works operation.

The company, however, encountered no competition when it subsequently bid $3 million for buildings at 3850, 3930 and 3950 Three Mile Lane. And so far, no objections have been filed with respect to that transaction.

Jackson, a leading national producer best known for its Kendall-Jackson brand, first bid on the landlocked building at 3400 Three Mile Lane. But it lost out to a competitor.

It has threatened to pull out of the deal entirely if the court rules it has to provide that competitor with a no-charge easement. It says it is willing to negotiate a fair price, but not to provide access without compensation.

Jackson says it bid on the building at 3400 on an “as-is” basis. It says it would have been willing to go higher had access been included. 

Finally, the court is scheduled Wednesday, Dec. 16, to hear a motion from World Fuel Services for relief from a stay on litigation aimed at collecting on a $9.1 million aviation fuel claim.