HPU in talks to house students at marketplace
By Andrew Gomes, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Feb. 22--College students might one day be living above waterfront shops and restaurants at Aloha Tower Marketplace as part of a plan to reinvigorate the struggling shopping center at Honolulu Harbor.
Hawaii Pacific University is negotiating with a developer that recently bought the marketplace to convert the largely vacant second level of the complex into student lofts with 250 beds.
There could even be space at the 165,000-square-foot open-air mall for academic programs or other facilities for the state's largest private university, which is based downtown.
A major emphasis would remain on entertainment-oriented tenants on the marketplace's ground floor, which is anchored by Hooters and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant.
The plan is among a variety of renewal ideas being considered by marketplace owner Hawaii Lifestyle Retail Properties LLC, and would need a rule change from a state Department of Transportation board that owns the land under the marketplace.
But if realized, such a transformation would help HPU achieve part of a major expansion goal while adding new activity and life to the marketplace, which is about 70 percent empty and has suffered chronically high vacancy for most of its existence.
"Hawaii Pacific University is extremely interested in the proposed redevelopment of the Aloha Tower Marketplace," Geoffrey Bannister, president of the nonprofit university, said in a statement. "It would be an ideal opportunity to strengthen our downtown presence, provide students with an optimal living-learning environment, and create the kind of urban campus experience that will be essential to the university's future."
Bannister has explained to university staff that leasing part of the marketplace would help deal with an acute housing need for students, many of whom are from other countries. Adding housing and perhaps additional facilities downtown also would save time and money in trying to expand the school.
HPU announced an expansion master plan for its 135-acre Hawaii Loa campus in Kaneohe in 2008, and this year is asking the Legislature to approve $120 million in special-purpose revenue bond financing. The university has dormitory space for 200 students at the Windward campus and no student housing downtown.
Read More»Columbia Bank eyes move, faces suit
By John Stucke, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Feb. 22--Columbia Bank's effort to escape a $91,000 monthly lease for its downtown Spokane branch has spurred a breach of contract lawsuit.
The Tacoma-based lender bought the best loan assets and bank branches of the failed Bank of Whitman last summer, and now wants to relocate its branch from the high-profile brick and glass building along Riverside Avenue between Wall and Howard streets.
Whitman, which had been based in Colfax, signed a 25-year lease in 2007 with BKW Spokane LLC, a company owned by businessman Robert Samuel.
Columbia took over in August, changed the signs, kept most employees and began competing for Spokane deposits and borrowers.
After making the lease payments and accepting sublease payments from other building tenants, Columbia notified BKW that it would move out in June after attempts to renegotiate the lease this year failed.
Columbia Bank now intends to occupy street level office space in the Fernwell Building a block to east, said attorney Bob Dunn, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the building owner.
BKW seeks $20 million from Columbia, which did not respond to interview requests Tuesday.
Financial institutions that take over troubled or failed banks at the behest of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are granted some special provisions allowing them flexibility to make changes such as renegotiating leases or moving.
Columbia's takeover of Whitman gave it quick access to Eastern Washington's banking business. Columbia also took over branch locations in Pullman, Colfax, Clarkston, Ritzville, Othello, Walla Walla and one in North Spokane.
___
(c)2012 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
NASDAQ:COLB,
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Read More»Sterling Financial to cut 6 percent of workforce
By John Stucke, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Feb. 21--Sterling Financial Corp. is laying off 6 percent of its employees this winter.
The Spokane-based holding company of Sterling Savings Bank anticipates saving $12 million in payroll and will charge off $3 million in severance pay. The bank has about 175 branches -- including 71 in Washington.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sterling chief executive officer Greg Seibly noted the small size of the bank.
"Given the challenging interest rate environment and the uncertain economic outlook, Sterling must position itself for continued success, including lowering its operating expenses," he said. "Sterling has fewer assets today than it did just a few years ago and, although this has been a difficult decision, the bank needs to appropriately reflect that reality,"
Sterling remains among the largest banks in the Pacific Northwest with $9.2 billion in loans and other assets, and deposits of $6.5 billion.
It is purchasing Vancouver, Wash.-based First Independent Bank. The deal, expected to close by Feb. 29, will bolster Sterling's presence in the Portland area.
The company has not detailed where the layoffs will occur. A phone message has not yet been returned.
However about 150 jobs will be cut. The company has more than 600 employees in Spokane and about 2,500 across all areas it serves.
In its filing, Sterling also announced it will drop the "Savings" from its bank name as part of a $3.5 million rebranding effort. It will now be Sterling Bank.
___
(c)2012 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Read More»AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, banking briefs
By AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Feb. 21--NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ANNOUNCES ISLAMIC BANKING SERVICES: National Bank of Oman has unveiled plans to start Islamic banking operations later this year, Reuters has reported. "We've got a whole team working on the Islamic window. We are trying to launch it between the second and third quarter. Of course, the sooner the better for us," said the chief executive of the Sultanate's second-largest lender by assets, Salaam bin Said al-Shaksy. "We are trying very hard to launch it in the second quarter, but we may need a little more time."
EMIRATES NBD POSTPONES SWISS FRANC BOND: Dubai's largest bank by market value, Emirates NBD (ENBD) has decided postpone a potential Swiss franc-denominated bond sale until more favourable market conditions, Reuters has reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. "The bank has decided against it," one ENBD source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The timing is not right," the source said, adding the lender could tap the market at a later stage.
___
(c)2012 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at www.ameinfo.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Read More»Florida Blueberry Growers See Silver Lining
By Kevin Bouffard, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.
Feb. 22--LAKELAND -- Nothing, not even a 20 percent crop loss this year, seems to hold back the Florida blueberry industry.
"Per capita consumption keeps going up," said Bill Braswell, a Bartow-based grower and president of the Florida Blueberry Growers Association. "Consumption still outpaces production in our market window, even globally. There's no reason not to be in blueberries."
Freezing weather during the weekend of Feb. 11 and Feb. 12 that came after an unusually warm winter and some production problems has destroyed about 20 percent of Florida's 2012 blueberry crop, Braswell said.
But the resulting shortage of Florida blueberries combined with even larger damage to the Georgia blueberry crop could push up farm prices for the state crop by 20 percent, he added.
"I think the increase in the value of the crop will offset the loss," Braswell said. "I think the harvest will be stretched out over a longer period of time. That will give us time to make more money."
Jerry Mixon Jr. of Sunnyridge Farm Inc. of Winter Haven, which has 400 acres of blueberries in Polk County, agreed.
"I think the market conditions are very ripe for a strong Florida blueberry season in terms of both quality and price," Mixon said.
Florida blueberry growers always relied on a small market window to sell its fruit.
As the sole U.S. supplier of fresh blueberries roughly between late March and early May, growers can generally make a profit during that short window. By May, other states begin supplying the U.S. blueberry market, pushing the farm price below the break-even point in Florida.
A cold winter delayed the maturity of Florida blueberries in 2010 until April, resulting in the crop's missing that market window, Braswell said. Most growers struggled to break even.
The average farm price that year was $2.94 per pound, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But this year, Florida blueberries will have a longer market window because a large segment of the Georgia blueberry crop, the varieties that mature by early May, suffered even bigger freeze losses, said Mixon, whose company also has about 200 blueberry acres there.
Read More»Maine bill removes union rights for egg workers
AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's House of Representatives has passed a bill that eliminates the right of workers at the former DeCoster egg farms to unionize.
The bill passed 73-69 along party lines Tuesday, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. It still faces more votes in the House and Senate.
The bill eliminates collective bargaining rights for workers at the farms formerly operated by DeCoster Egg Farms. A division of Minnesota-based Lake O'Lakes Inc. has taken over the farms under a lease-purchase agreement.
Republican Rep. Dale Crafts said no other farm workers in Maine or in the U.S. other than one county in California have the right to unionize.
Democrats argued that the former DeCoster farms have a history of workplace violations in Maine and that the bill guts workers' rights.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
Read More»