$1-Billion Lawsuit Filed to Force Sale of Cannery

A $1-billion lawsuit has been filed against Castle & Cooke Inc. by officers of the Arcwel Corp., after Castle & Cooke allegedly reneged on an agreement to sell them the former Bumble Bee Tuna cannery building in Logan Heights.

The complaint, filed Monday in San Diego County Superior Court, asks the court to order Castle & Cooke to go through with the deal it purportedly reached last Thursday with officers of the Arcwel Corp. But in the event that the court is unwilling to issue such an order, the plaintiffs are asking for $1.002 billion in damages.

According to the suit, Castle & Cooke agreed to sell the cannery for $2.1 million cash to Arcwel owners George S. Parker, George T. Keen Jr. and John A. Collins. The three are listed as plaintiffs in the suit. But after agreeing on the selling price, Castle & Cooke officials refused to cooperate in the opening of an escrow account to complete the purchase, the complaint says.

Arcwel, a San Diego ship repair firm, wants to buy the cannery because it gives the company direct access to the bay, said Louis E. Goebel, attorney for the plaintiffs. Castle & Cooke, a major food company whose major product line is Dole, closed the tuna plant in May, 1982.

“Castle & Cooke had no legal basis for reneging on the agreement. We suspect they were offered more money by someone else,” Goebel said. “Our primary goal is to get the property. It would be a valuable site for us in terms of getting access to the bay. The access is very important to this company because of the nature of its business.”

Goebel said that Arcwel officials want to refurbish the cannery for ship repairing. If the lawsuit ever goes to trial, Goebel said, Arcwel officials will prove that failure to purchase the plant will result in losses of more than $1 billion to the company between now and 2017.

Castle & Cooke attorneys in San Francisco were not available for comment Wednesday.