Twelve units will be auctioned at the Brentwood Park complex on Junction Rd., which saw at least two shootings, one fatal, in 2006 and 2007; it was also the listed address of a man accused of sexually assaulting a Duke student at an off-campus party several years back, though Roberts told the Herald-Sun at the time that the man hadn't lived there in several years. A 2007 homicide took place at 1309 Hudson Ave., the address of a third property fingered in the lender-forced sale.

The Roberts estate or relatives appear to control just fewer than half of the 190 units in the Brentwood Park complex, according to property records online, while the vast majority of properties in tax records for 1309 Hudson are owned by the Roberts estate or by his wife or other relatives.

Two triplexes on Geer St. are also for sale.

All told, the 48 units for sale represent about one-third of the more than 140 properties (including distinct units) listed in the name of the Bobby Roberts estate through Durham tax records online -- though as the presence of the names of his brother, wife, a daughter and the like shows, the Roberts family continues to be a major stakeholder in the Durham housing and rental market, including in many of the complexes where properties are coming up for sale.

Altogether, Roberts' estate plus his construction company, wife, brother, children and grandchildren are listed as owning more than 465 properties in Durham County. On Hudson Ave., where one 18-unit apartment building (Unit F) is on the auction block, wife Florence appears to control the better part of two 18-unit buildings, while Roberts' daughters control one building apiece.

Still, the sale -- about whose root cause nothing more is known than the brief headline in the LoopNet entry -- comes at the end of a career that was both productive and controversial for Roberts.

His career dated back to the mid-1950s, when Roberts received a general contractor's license and proceeded to build single-family and multi-family housing throughout Durham, ultimately leading him to have been one of the most prolific builders in the history of our community.

Press reports note challenges in the final decades of that career.

Bobby Roberts and his brother Bryant were swept up in a lawsuit that led to more than a dozen stories in the Herald-Sun back in the late 1990s, when more than two dozen homeowners sued or settled with Roberts Construction over foundation problems and other damages in a mid-1990s development.

Two homeowners ultimately were awarded triple-damages that were upheld on appeal, with damages apparently exceeding the high-five-figure purchase prices of the home; most of the cases were settled confidentially before trial.

During the case, Roberts' GC license was found to have never been renewed since its initial issuance, with the contractor and company owner relying on the licenses of a brother and foreman; Bobby Roberts signed a consent order with the state over the matter that admitted no guilt, while Bryant Roberts agreed to halt his use of his permit for six months as a result, the Herald-Sun reported in 1998.

The Robertses were also the subject of an investigation by the state real estate commission in the early 1990s over their property management company; that action alleged tenants and property owners' funds weren't maintained in escrow accounts as required, and stemmed out of tenant complaints of illegal evictions and property padlockings by the management company. 

Bobby Roberts' real estate broker license was also suspended by the state in 1981 due to "criminal convictions," according to a 1996 Herald-Sun story.

Now, at career's and life's end, a third of the properties remaining in Roberts' name at his passing -- though less than 10% of the total family holdings -- are ready to find their way to new ownership.

For Durhamites, the question of who'll steward those properties into their next uses is one worth watching.

The auction is set for 1pm on June 2 at the Courtyard by Marriott on Front St. north of I-85.