Kiger's Notebook

U.S. Bank sues parent of Shoppes on Maine developer

OK, it looks like U.S. Bank has filed suit against Opus Corp. of Minnetonka, Minn. "to recover from Opus and related entities $78.8 million plus interest and fees that it says it is owed," according to the always astute Sam Black @ the Minneapolis- St. Paul Business Journal.

This is the latest is kind of a run of not-so-great news for Opus. 

"Three of its five independent operating companies filed for bankruptcy this year; Opus South based in Atlanta and Opus West based in Phoenix filed for Chapter 11 and Opus East based in Rockville, Md. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy," according to Black's article.

How does this relate to Rochester?

Opus Northwest, an Opus offshoot, is one of the main developers, along with Rochester-based Hexum Cos., of the Shoppes on Maine massive shopping complex in south Rochester.

However, the elder Opus has said that it doesn't "expect" Opus Northwest or Opus North to file for bankruptcy.

Add it all up and there might be not impact to Shoppes on Maine or Rochester. Or there could.

The way things play out these days, it seems impossible to guess.

Lawyer returns to Austin

Here's some from a piece this morning by colleague in Austin, Karen Colbenson:

Business savvy Paul Egtvedt has worked with some of Minnesota’s top attorneys from Fortune 500 companies and has his own office in the IDS Tower in Minneapolis, but when his entrepreneurial spirit and heart called him back to his hometown, he listened.

Born and raised in Austin, Egtvedt worked for various large law firms in Minneapolis before opening his own law firm there in 2003. He recently decided to leave the big city behind and return to his original home to open a firm on Main Street.

His office is located on the top floor of the 111 building.

The graduate of Cornell University said he chose to return to Austin so he could be closer to his family and to marry and settle down with his fiancee, Heather Wittstruck, who teaches at Southgate Elementary School. 

He also believes his experience working on complex issues for large businesses will be beneficial in a smaller community like Austin.

Egtvedt practices in several areas of law, including employment, labor law, business and corporate law, personal injury, criminal defense and land use. He said he most enjoys working on employment issues because he’s intrigued by human behavior.

New law firm + Roch.

Rochester lawyers Thomas R. Patterson and Paul R. Dahlberg are joining forces to create a legal firm under the name of Patterson and Dahlberg, Attorneys At Law.

Look for their office in downtown Rochester in the historic Kelly Building, where Patterson & Associates was.

According to a press release, Patterson and Dahlberg will provide legal services in the areas of personal injury, worker’s compensation, criminal defense, family/divorce law and bankruptcy. 

I'll have more on this soon.