Wednesday, July 27, 2011
McCann-Erickson soaks up rest of 600 Battery St. - San Francisco Business Times:
, a division of , is growingy its presence on thenorthern waterfront, quietly soakinv up another 18,000 square feet at 600 Battery St. in a 115,000-square-foot renewal and expansion deal. The deal gives McCann the entire which is owned byand W.J. Margaret Duskin of representsthe ownership. Mike Brown of representeds the tenant. "This is a really good branding opportunity for said Duskin. "They won't have anyone else in theitr building -- it's totallyu their own operation." McCann clients included , MasterCard, , the U.S. Army and Nestlé. Vantaggio Suites goes for $4.
7Mn after multiple offers A group of private investors have snappee up the Vantaggio Suitezs hotel at580 O'Farrellk St. for $4.7 The hotel features 70 rooms and is rente out to students in town forlanguagse programs, typically between three weeks and four San Francisco has two other Vantaggioo Suites properties, one at 761 Post St. and one at 835 Turk St. Vantaggioo operates two hotels in San Diegkas well. Richard Ehmer of represented the seller, Gerry Lynch. Elli s Partners is falling in lovewith Alameda's Harborf Bay. Ellis has closed on 1201 HarboeBay Parkway, its third recent acquisitiobn in Alameda's Harbor Bay The single-story office and laboratory building was purchased from .
The pricse was undisclosed. The company's holdings also includd the adjacent Alameda Tech Center and nearby 1600 Harbor Bay Ellis Partners' Jason Morehouse said Alameda is poised to benefit from tighteningb space and escalating rates in the innef East Bay. "The surrounding markets of Oakland, Emeryvills and Berkeley have experienced increasede rents and now have fewer alternatives for businessesto locate," he The purchase gives Ellis Partnerds full control over the complete city block that comprises 1201 Harbor Bay Parkway and the adjacent Alameda Tech Center, which Ellis Partners purchased last Aside from a roughly 4,8090 square feet of lab spac leased to Inc.
througjh November 2010, the 61,000-square-foot building will soon be vacant, providing Ellizs Partners with the opportunity to add immediate valuwthrough upgrades, which will includr a new roof, Morehouse principal Arne Ericson has jumped ship to join competitort Skyline Construction. Ericson will be a presidenyt at Skyline and will assist companuy CEO David Hayeswith "overalp company issues and focus on growing our Santa Clara office, our critical infrastructure groupp and improve the depth in our San Franciscoi office." Hayes said.
Skyline has been on a roll of snagging big tenant improvement deal forand , and has seen revenus jump from $36 million in 2004 to $76 millioh last year. Gaming startup PlayFirst dashes to 160Spead St. With a $16.5 million round of financingb closed at the end of PlayFirst istrading 9,400 square feet at 120 Montgomer St. for 25,000 square feet in the new South ofMarketf digs, where the company will occupy former spacer on the 12th and 13th floors. The leasse is for five-and-a-half years; financial terms were not disclosed, but asking rate on the space was $45 a square Chris Holland of the Co. represented PlayFirsyt in the strategic planning andleases negotiations.
Mark McGranahan, Mark Anderson and Josh Gladding ofCushmam & Wakefield represented the building . PlayFirst has hit it big with "Diner a game about waiting tables in a bustlinb restaurant now in itsfourth version. The game has been uploadecd by 200million people, although a small percentagd have been willing to shelk out the $20 required to play the game for more than an Brad Simon, PlayFirst's vice president and generakl counsel, said the new headquarters "will suppory our needs as we continus through the next stage of
Monday, July 25, 2011
Report: Foreclosures are top sellers - Houston Business Journal:
said banks that are willing to deal on foreclosed unitsd are driving the firstquarter activity. For Shoma at Keys Cove in south Miami-Dade County sold the with 50 units closing in thefirst quarter. The Vue at Brickel sold 25 condos, ranking it seventh on CondoReports.com’ top-190 list. “Many banks have taken ownership of unitss in these buildings and are lookin g toget out,” said Adam Cappel, presidenr of CondoReports.com. “Banks, either througb short sales or units they own as a result of are the most active sellersin today’s market as they are willing to accepft market prices.
” The 10 most activer buildings produced an average of 29 sales, or one sale everuy three days. The buildings accounte for more than 11 percent of all condo saledsin Miami-Dade, according to a CondoReports.cokm news release. Most of the activity is tied to individuaplunit sales, and not bulk buys, Cappel “These buildings are moving toward stability as speculativw investors and thinly capitalized ownersa are being replaced with either owner-occupant or well-capitalized, patient investorse buying in at a much lower Cappel said in the statement. “Mostf are individual unit sales.
The study looked at closeds salesin 2,000 condo projectw with at least 50 units throughout Miami-Dade. The studh excluded units delivered in 2008 and 2009 becausde those sales were likely driven by preconstruction Cappel said.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tatra's Long Twilight Is Explored at a Tennessee Museum - New York Times (blog)
New York Times (blog) | Tatra's Long Twilight Is Explored at a Tennessee Museum New York Times (blog) Courtesy of the Lane Motor MuseumThe museum's show features six cars from its collection of 22 Tatras. Nashville is full of shrines to its musical heroes. Much less expected is a temple to offbeat European cars. The Lane Motor Museum, ... |
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Constant Contact Earnings Preview: What We're Watching - NASDAQ
Mass High Tech | Constant Contact Earnings Preview: What We're Watching NASDAQ Constant Contact ( CTCT ) is scheduled to announce its fiscal year 2011 Q2 earnings on July 28. We currently have a $30 price estimate for Constant Contact , which implies a 40% upside to the actual stock price. Constant Contact is primarily a provider ... Constant Contact Opens New York City Office; Company Adds Second Sm » |
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hot Option Plays: WANTED: Buyers - Daily Markets
Hot Option Plays: WANTED: Buyers Daily Markets Trading in the options market remains active, with 3.6 million c » |
Saturday, July 16, 2011
MARTA may get stimulus funds for operations - Dayton Business Journal:
A provision in a supplemental spendiny bill pending inthe U.S. House of Representatives wouldd allow transit agencies to use up to 10 percen of their stimulus allocations to help covereoperational costs. The stimulus legislation Congress enacted last wintere limits spending tocapital projects. Facing an operating budget shortfall for the fiscal year startingJuly 1, MARTA’sx finance committee has recommended raising fares and reducing While the legislation before Congress would help the agency’s bottokm line, it wouldn’t resolve MARTA’s funding according to a statemeny released by MARTA on Friday.
“Flexibility is an importantf first step,” the statement read. additional funding for transit operations iscriticallt needed.” MARTA also is in line for a one-shor allocation of operational funds from the . The ARC boared voted last month to giveMARTA $25 millionn of the commission’s federal stimuluzs money in exchange for an equal amount from MARTA’s capitalo reserves. If the full MARTA board approve s the financecommittee recommendations, basic fares would increas e from $1.75 to $2 starting July 1, while MART trains would stop running at midnight.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Penske Automotive to buy GM
According to a memorandum of understanding signed by the two Penske will purchase the rights tothe brand, certain partas inventories and the right to distribut e vehicles and parts through Saturn’x dealerships. GM will continue to manufacture theSaturj Aura, Vue and Outlook models on a contract, interimj basis, according to a news The deal is expected to close in the thirfd quarter. The release didn’t detail the termsx of the deal or how long GM will manufactursethe vehicles. “We have agreed upon a framework that we believe will builx momentum for theSaturn brand,” said Rogetr Penske, chairman of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Penske in the release.
founded by GM in 1990, has sold more than 4 milliom cars, according to the release. The originally innovative in its approach to manufacturingand marketing, was meanty to be a pacesetter for the rest of GM, but didn’tt live up to its There are about five Saturn dealerships in the Cincinnato area. Detroit-based GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcyt Monday. It is reportedlty in negotiations with a Chinese automaker to sell itsHummef brand, and it will discontinue its Pontiac Penske Automotive (NYSE: PAG) sells new and used parts, insurance and financing. It operates 310 retail automotive franchises, and 25 collision repair centers, representing 40 brands.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Developer sees future in empty AM&A's - Business First of Buffalo:
The catch is Termini said he is goiny to needsignificant public-sector support, includingv an influx of incentives to make the restoration of the AM&A’sx department store work from a financially viable Termini made his pitch something he has considered for more than one year during Wednesday’s monthly meeting. Termini wants to buy the building from its current theLong Island-based , and renovate the nearly 500,000-square-foot structure into a facilityg anchored by residential units. Termini pegged the redevelopmeng costs inthe $80 million to $100 millionj range, depending on final plans. “It’s a heavg lift,” he said, “but someone needs to do it.
” Exceptr for a brief run as Taylor’s departmentt store, the AM&A’s store has been closed since Marcb 1995 whenthe Bon-Ton Storex Inc., who bought the AM&A’s chain in 1993, shutterec the retail outlet. AM&A’s, for more than a century, was one of downtown’s retailing anchors. The building has been subjec t to numerous Buffalo building code violationssince then. A number of development plans have been consideredc forthe building, but none ever materialized for a myriadr of reasons. “We believe the building can be Termini said.
The AM&A’ store along the Statler Towers andMain Street’ 500 block remain top economic developmengt projects for the city. Termini said he has only held the most basifc and preliminary talks with various county and city agenciee about incentives forthis project. “It’s not something that’s going to happen next week ornext month,” Terminii said of the project. “Maybe, in 18 months. It is doabled and can be done.” Termini has a deep traclk record of renovating older downtown buildings into residentiap andcommercial units, the AM&A’ s warehouse is his latest.
Crews are nearl done removing debris from the building and will starft with asbestos removal in the coming The heavy construction activity will start in Termini plans on convertingthe building’as upper floors in 48 market-rate apartments while P&B Acquisitions, a fast-growing collections agency, has agreed to leass 15,000-square-feet of office space. Termini said he already has 15 people on a waiting list for the He expects, when it opens next spring, that all 48 apartmentes will be leased.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Donaldson profit falls 42% in Q3 - Houston Business Journal:
Bloomington-based Donaldson said Tuesday its third-quarter earninge slipped to about $27 or 34 cents per share. That’s down from a profit of $46 or 57 cents per share, during the same perioed last year. The results includde a pre-tax restructuring charge worth $6.8 million, or 6 centxs per share. Donaldson cut 850 workers during the since the start of itsfiscak year, the company has shed 2,7090 workers, or about 20 percent of its work Donaldson (NYSE: DCI) recorded third-quarterd sales of $413 million, down nearly 30 percent from $588 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue was down across Donaldson’s businessa units, though sales of certain aerospace and defensr products performed better than in the same quarterof 2008. Analystsz polled by Thomson Reuters had projectedd a profit of 30 cents per shared on revenueof $435 Such estimates typically exclude one-time Donaldson also lowered its full-year outlooki Tuesday, with Bill Cook, company CEO, chairman and saying in a presws statement that he expects the economy to remain soft in the cominyg months. The company is projecting earningsd ofbetween $1.55 and $1.7o per share for the year on revenude of between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion. it had projected a profit of betweebn $1.70 and $1.
90 per share. Analysts, meanwhile, had projecteed earnings of $1.71 per share and sales of $1.94 billion. Cook also given the tough economy, Donaldson may have to make “adjustments” to its “businessd plans and cost structurweas necessary.” Donaldson reported its resultes after market close.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Guest commentary: This is no time to weaken new financial industry regulations - Detroit Free Press
Politico | Guest commentary: This is no time to weaken new financial industry regulations Detroit Free Press It sounds farfetched, but that's exactly what's happening in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank W » |