Bostleman Corp., one of the region's top industrial construction firms, filed for bankruptcy liquidation Monday and said it has ceased operations permanently after 65 years in business.

The company, based at 7142 Nightingale Dr. in Holland, attributed the closing to cash-flow problems and heavy debt from several of its investment properties where tenants had gone bankrupt, and to "aggressive actions" by its primary lender, Fifth Third Bank. The bank, the borrower said, has called in the company's outstanding loans.

Specifics were not immediately available. Bostleman's bankruptcy filing shows estimated assets at less than $50,000 and estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million, with 100 to 200 creditors. Its largest unsecured creditor was Fifth Third, with a claim of $1.6 million.

The suburban Toledo company filed for Chapter 11 business reorganization Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Toledo but changed that to Chapter 7 liquidation Monday after the bank rejected the company's attempt to use funds from a group of Bostleman family investors to pay off vendors, subcontractors, clients, and employees while also making a settlement with Fifth Third.

A call for comment to Fifth Third's northwest Ohio spokesman was not returned.

"We acknowledge and accept the responsibility for the investment decisions that led to our debt burden," company president Bill Bostleman said in a statement released Monday.

"But we did everything in our power to cope with that debt and made a bona fide offer to settle it with family money.

"It is also important to emphasize that this bankruptcy is solely the result of investments and our bank's actions. It is not the result of any fraud or any other illegal or unethical act on Bostleman's part."

In the case, assigned to Judge Richard Speer, details of the firm's assets and debts have to be filed by Nov. 28.

As recently as 2006, the privately held firm founded in 1946 by retired businessman Fred Bostleman had revenues of $140 million.

The company, which had expanded from construction management to add real estate development and property management, has 23 employees.

Over the last three decades the company built its reputation by serving as a primary general contractor for several big-box retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kohl's Corp., and Kroger Co.

It had a large footprint in the northwest Ohio area, serving as the construction manager on projects at the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, at least 10 area private schools or public school districts, several hospitals in the region, area churches, and local stores and shopping centers.

But in a statement issued Monday, the company said that the stock market crash in 2008 had hurt its investment properties in both cash flow and value with the tenants filing bankruptcy.

One of the investment properties the company owned was the Orchard Centre shopping center on Airport Highway at Holloway Road, where the primary anchor store, Farmer Jack, left in 2005.

Although Bostleman did not own Farmer Jack, the space was never filled by another retailer, causing a loss of retail traffic to the rest of the center, commercial real estate experts said.

It was unclear how many construction projects Bostleman is now involved with. It is the general construction manager for the current renovation of the elephant house at the Toledo Zoo.

Andi Norman, zoo spokesman, said that the project is nearly complete and was scheduled to be finished by year's end. At this point, she said, the zoo will oversee the project on its own.

"We've had several projects with them but fortunately, the bulk of them are done," Ms. Norman said.

Mr. Bostleman is the third generation to run the Toledo-based construction firm. His grandfather Fred Bostleman started the firm with $300 he had won in a poker game and a $500 bank loan. But after 35 years, the company had a modest $3 million in sales.

When the elder Mr. Bostleman's son Richard bought the firm in 1981, the company set out on a pattern of deliberate growth by establishing partnerships with national retail chains and building stores across the United States.

Its first alliance was with the now-defunct Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant chain, but that led to relationships with Wal-Mart and Kohl's.

By 1991, the company had revenues of $41 million and Richard Bostleman was named Northwest Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year in the construction category.

The company continued to grow, but Richard Bostleman was killed in a boating accident in 1998 in Lenawee County.

Shortly afterward, his son Bill was selected to run the company.

Bostleman Corp.'s revenues increased, nearly quadrupling, but the 2008 meltdown of the financial markets hurt its real estate investments, the company said.

"As a result of these investments, Bostleman accumulated too much debt to survive the ongoing slow construction market, and the bank chose to call that debt without regard to the consequences," the firm's statement said.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published November 15, 2011, 5:15 a.m.