Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from August 2004

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from August 2004

3M acquires Info-X, provider of healthcare software.
August 3, 2004... Byline: staff 3M acquired New Jersey-based Info-X Inc., a medical coding software provider. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "Teaming up with 3M is a tremendous opportunity to bring our unique software to an even...

Appliance Recycling Centers of America to open factory outlet superstore.
August 4, 2004... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. will open a 36,000-square-foot ApplianceSmart factory outlet superstore in San Antonio, Texas, in October. The factory outlet will be ARCA's first retail...

TCF board of directors declares two-for-one stock split.
August 4, 2004... Byline: staff The board of directors of TCF Financial Corp. declared a two-for-one stock split in the form of a 100 percent stock dividend payable September 3 to shareholders. The stock split will increase TCF's shares issued and...

Finance and Commerce names 2004 Innovators of the Year.
August 4, 2004... Byline: staff Fifteen Minnesota entrepreneurs, including the CEO of a company that is developing a pump system that converts ocean waves to energy and the developer of a software that streamlines the recording of real estate documents,...

Gloves have come off in Woodbury Lakes dispute.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Burl Gliyard A local developer demanding more stringent environmental review for a project? Impossible, you might think. Of course, the project in question is being proposed by a competing developer. Edina-based...

Former potato field presented a challenge for Ikea contractor.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson Ikea's massive new retail store in Bloomington presented a smorgasbord of engineering challenges for Minneapolis-based Braun Intertec. The Swedish home furnishings retailer enlisted Braun Intertec to provide...

Upland Real Estate sells three Jiffy Lube properties.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based Upland Real Estate Group Inc. has sold three Jiffy Lube investment properties in Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas. Keith Sturm, Michael Houge and Deborah K. Vannelli completed the deal for a...

Griffin Cos. adds state lawmaker to sales and leasing team.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff A Minnesota state representative has joined the sales and leasing team at Minneapolis-based Griffin Cos. Christopher DeLaForest represents District 49A in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Prior to joining Griffin,...

Construction group examines marketing, customer relations.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff The Minnesota Construction Association will offer a half-day seminar on Wednesday, Aug. 25, on marketing and customer relations in the construction industry. The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to noon in the banquet room...

NAIOP looks at office and industrial condo market.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff The next meeting of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) will examine the office and industrial condo market in the Twin Cities. The event is set for Tuesday, Aug....

NAIOP raises $5,000 for Bridging program.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff The Community Enhancement Committee of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) raised $5,000 last month for Bridging Inc., a nonprofit group that provides furniture and...

Former Minneapolis BOMA executive dies at 84.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff Arthur W. Olofson, a former executive at the Greater Minneapolis Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), died last week at the age of 84. Olofson worked for the association for 20 years before retiring as...

Volunteers needed for playground project.
August 5, 2004... Byline: staff The Greater Minneapolis Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is looking for volunteers to help build a playground structure. The activity will be held Friday, Aug. 20, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a Project for...

Pent-up demand drives market for medical offices.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Mark Anderson Medical offices may make up only a modest portion of the Twin Cities' total office inventory, but their performance has been calling attention to the sector in the last 18 months. Vacancies in metro medical...

CSM Lodging buys St. Louis Park hotel for $9.33 million.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard Minneapolis-based CSM Lodging has acquired the 197-room Holiday Inn Minneapolis West hotel for $9.33 million. Despite the name of the property, the hotel actually sits in St. Louis Park near Interstate 394 and Highway...

Mini-storage field becoming more crowded.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The former site of a Hartzell Manufacturing plant in St. Paul, 2516 Wabash Ave., stands as a sign of the times. The once-bustling factory and its workers are gone. Today, the former industrial site has been reborn,...

Minneapolis Real Estate Briefs August 5, 2004.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The IDS Center, slated to hit the market this fall, will be shopped by the New York City-based Eastdil Realty. Eastdil touts itself as a pioneer in real estate investment banking. From January 1998 through this...

Minneapolis Construction Briefs August 5, 2004.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson The city of Deephaven doesn't necessarily love a parade. Deephaven officials later this month will consider banning the Parade of Homes - the biggest home tour event of the year for local homebuilders - and other...

Machinery Lofts project sidelined by high costs.
August 5, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson Developers, preservationists and people in general are often intrigued with the idea of turning an old factory or warehouse into modern housing or office space. But happens when the project turns out to be more...

US Army Corps of Engineers deems reverse auction bidding inappropriate for construction.
August 6, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after a yearlong experiment with reverse auction bidding, isn't entirely sold on the controversial procurement tool. The Corps of Engineers - which used reverse auctions on a...

Simon Property Group sells 27.5 percent of its partnership interest in Mall of America.
August 7, 2004... Byline: staff Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. announced on Friday the completion of a court ordered sale of its 27.5 percent partnership interest in the Mall of America to Triple Five of Minnesota Inc. The company has not...

San Diego firm's advertising gimmick raises questions of legality.
August 10, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger San Diego-based Boodle is scattering 16,000 quarters with peel-off advertising stickers on them in Minneapolis as part of a promotion that the firm hopes will attract attention to the coupons it distributes on newspaper...

K. Hovnanian Homes expanding to the Twin Cities.
August 10, 2004... Byline: staff K. Hovnanian Homes announced on Monday plans to expand to the Twin Cities. "The Twin Cities is going to be seeing a lot of our golden oval logo soon. With its half-century of experience and its willingness to learn what...

Technology Solutions to purchase Zamba Solutions.
August 10, 2004... Byline: staff Technology Solutions Co. will purchase Minneapolis-based Zamba. Under the terms of the transaction, which was approved by both companies' boards of directors, Zamba stockholders will receive a 0.15 share of TSC stock for...

NBS Technologies purchasing Minneapolis-based UbiQ.
August 11, 2004... Byline: staff Toronto-based NBS Technologies Inc. will acquire UbiQ Inc. Minneapolis-based UbiQ is a privately held software development company specializing in smart cards. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, NBS will...

Change is in the air in Uptown Minneapolis.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis has always been wary of change. More than two decades ago, developer Ray Harris' ideas for a retail center were denounced as "Updale" by critics who feared the suburbanization of...

In sellers' market, more deals might be just ahead.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Mark Anderson When marquee office buildings like the IDS and Fifth Street Towers start moving onto the auction block, excitement builds about the prospects for other major real estate deals. This year is no different. But among...

Archway Marketing Service building new facility in Rogers.
August 12, 2004... Byline: staff Archway Marketing Services has broken ground on a 285,000-square-foot warehouse and production facility on Diamond Lake Road near its headquarters in Rogers. Minnetonka-based Opus Northwest is building the facility, which...

BOMA meeting looks at emergency power issues.
August 12, 2004... Byline: staff The September meeting of the Greater Minneapolis Building Owners & Managers Association will examine electrical power problems and related issues. A representative from Ziegler Power Systems in Shakopee will discuss...

Colliers Turley names two vice presidents.
August 12, 2004... Byline: staff Two executives have joined the Minneapolis office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Gina Dingman, who was hired as vice president-investment services, has more than 12 years of commercial real estate experience, including...

Shopping center forum to examine retail real estate.
August 12, 2004... Byline: staff Retail real estate in Minnesota and surrounding states will be the topic of a forum sponsored by the Minnesota Shopping Center Association next month. The event will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept....

Met Council sets hearing on public housing plan.
August 12, 2004... Byline: staff A public hearing on the Metropolitan Council's Public Housing Agency Plan will be held Monday at 4 p.m. in Room 1A of the Met Council offices, 230 E. Fifth St., St. Paul. The plan contains one- and five-year strategies...

REITs going mainstream in 401(k)s.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Mark Anderson The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts shared a "woo-hoo" moment a few weeks ago, celebrating IBM's announcement that it was adding REIT stocks to the investment options in its employee 401(k) plan....

State of MN in the market for St. Paul office space.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The state of Minnesota is shopping for new office space. In late July, the state's Department of Administration issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking 258,123 square feet for lease for the Department of Human...

City takes another stab at redevelopment of the Nicollet Hotel block.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson City officials are again seeking redevelopment bids for the Nicollet Hotel block in downtown Minneapolis, even though they've been frustrated so far in their attempts to change a state law that has made the project...

Aldi brings unusual strategy to grocery wars.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard It's been less than a year since discount grocery chain Aldi landed in the Twin Cities, but the German-based limited selection grocer has been downright aggressive in its local growth. In Richfield, a new Aldi store is...

Minneapolis Real Estate Briefs August 11, 2004.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard Bloomington-based United Properties on Tuesday announced that GMAC Residential Funding Corp. signed a long-term lease for 244,000 square feet of office space in Bloomington's Normandale Lake Office Park. The deal is...

Firm's Web site pays homage to 'phantom projects'.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson The African American Cultural Centre was designed to be an artistic landmark. Distinctive features - including a funky circular roof - would set the building apart from existing structures in downtown Minneapolis and...

Minneapolis Construction Briefs August 12, 2004.
August 12, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson There's a lot of construction going on near Third Avenue and 24th Street in Minneapolis, where the Children's Theatre and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts are both undergoing major expansions. "We're surrounded...

Xcel Energy gets approval for renewable energy in Colorado.
August 13, 2004... Byline: staff The Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved an Xcel Energy proposal that could triple the company's wind power capacity in Colorado by 2007. The CPUC approved Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy's proposal to acquire up...

Carmichael Lynch names chief creative executive.
August 13, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Minneapolis ad agency Carmichael Lynch has hired Peter McHugh as chief creative officer and managing partner in a move that gives the firm a creative executive with international advertising experience. McHugh, 47,...

G&K Services purchasing Keefer Laundry of Canada.
August 14, 2004... Byline: staff Minnetonka-based G&K Services Inc. acquired Keefer Laundry Ltd., a textile laundry company serving Vancouver, British Columbia, and Whistler, British Columbia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition,...

Eight agencies make pitch for Twins account.
August 14, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Minnesota Twins marketing executives are reviewing eight firms that are competing to create advertising for the team next season, after Minneapolis ad agency Hunt Adkins resigned the account recently after four years....

Minneapolis Marketing Briefs August 14, 2004.
August 14, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Four firms, including three Twin Cities agencies, are still in the hunt for the $7 million ad account of the Minnesota State Lottery. Competing agencies are incumbent The Foley Group of Minneapolis, BBDO Minneapolis,...

Colle + McVoy names new executive creative director.
August 17, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger After conducting a national search, Bloomington ad agency Colle + McVoy found its new executive creative director close to home, hiring an industry veteran from Minneapolis-based rival Carmichael Lynch. Mike Fetrow...

Campbell Mithun loses National Pork Board's $10M account.
August 18, 2004... Byline: staff Minneapolis-based ad agency Campbell Mithun lost the National Pork Board's $10 million account last week. The Des Moines, Iowa-based organization of pork producers awarded its ad business to the Dallas-based Richards Group....

Despite its critics, Block E is making an early splash.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The redevelopment of Block E in downtown Minneapolis was fraught with controversy. Minneapolis City Council members argued intensely over the project before voting in 2000 to provide $39.1 million in public...

Lupe Development Partners looks northeast for next loft project.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard A partnership headed by Bloomington-based Lupe Development Partners has a contract to purchase the industrial home of Nystrom Building Products at 1701 Madison St. N.E. in Minneapolis and is planning to redevelop the...

Associated General Contractors sets reception in honor of congressman.
August 19, 2004... Byline: staff U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) will be recognized next week for his support of the Minnesota transportation industry. A reception will be held Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the St. Paul office of Associated General...

Dominium Management Services names senior V.P.
August 19, 2004... Byline: staff Marty Page has joined Minneapolis-based Dominium Management Services as senior vice president of the organization's newly launched Preferred Client Group. Page has 18 years of experience in multifamily property...

AGC documenting construction site vandalism and thefts.
August 19, 2004... Byline: staff Associated General Contractors of Minnesota is looking at growing vandalism and theft at construction job sites. The trade group is asking contractors to let it know about vandalism or other losses that have occurred...

The Geneva Organization hires sales V.P.
August 19, 2004... Byline: staff Dawn Campbell has joined The Geneva Organization of Minneapolis as vice president of sales. She will be responsible for the market development strategy for tenancy-in-common (TIC) products to securities broker/dealers...

NAIOP event will examine development in Bloomington.
August 19, 2004... Byline: staff "Bloomington - The Third Downtown" is the title of the September meeting of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. The event will be held Tuesday, Sept. 21, from 7:45 a.m....

Deephaven looks for the middle ground in 'Parade of Homes' dispute.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson Deephaven officials appear to be backing down from their threats to ban the Parade of Homes from the city, but they're not exactly putting out the welcome mat either. The city council, responding to complaints...

In termite control campaign, the medium is the message.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Bloomington agency Colle + McVoy has sent termite bait - also known as blocks of wooden studs - to 12,000 pest control companies and some building contractors as part of a direct marketing effort to sell Bayer...

Numbers paint a mostly flat picture of area commercial real estate conditions.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard Real estate is a numbers game. The mid-year 2004 market update from the Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. offers a lot to chew on. Per the latest numbers from Welsh, the local office market remains in tough shape, with...

Welsh Cos. says retail will drive market for remainder of this year.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard Money keeps pouring into commercial real estate, and investors' greatest demand at the moment is for retail properties. The recent market update published by Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. surveyed the industry...

Minneapolis Construction Briefs August 19, 2004.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson Reality TV may be all the rage these days, but fans of popular home improvement shows might be in store for a reality check when they try to tackle a project that looks simple on TV, according to home improvement...

What's next for The Whitney Hotel property?
August 19, 2004... Byline: Mark Anderson The Whitney Hotel property is back on the auction block, which means the search is under way again for an owner and a profitable use for the landmark Minneapolis building. The six-story historic hotel - built by...

Eden Prairie library finally opens, despite setbacks.
August 19, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson For much of the past 1 1/2 years, the Hennepin County library project in Eden Prairie was under a black cloud - literally and figuratively. Contractor problems, water damage and negotiations with the county's...

St. Paul-based Shavlik International opening office in Amsterdam.
August 20, 2004... Byline: staff St. Paul-based Shavlik Technologies, a security and software provider, is opening an office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Shavlik chose to open an office in Amsterdam because of its centralized location to better serve...

Northwoods Advertising teams with Jesse Ventura again in Operation Truth.
August 21, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Northwoods Advertising, the Minneapolis ad agency that helped former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura win a three-way election for Minnesota governor in 1998, again is teaming with Ventura to generate a national public...

Carmichael Lynch tops Advertising Federation of Minnesota awards.
August 24, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Minneapolis advertising agency Carmichael Lynch will collect the most honors when the Advertising Federation of Minnesota holds it annual awards ceremony at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Oct. 7. Carmichael...

N.J.-based homebuilder planning Minnesota division.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson Minnesota has been a hotbed for residential construction in recent years, and national builders are noticing. One of the latest examples is K. Hovanian Homes, a New Jersey-based builder with operations in 14 states....

Restaurateur shows appetite for risky ventures.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard Local restaurateur David Fhima seems drawn to unlikely locations for his projects. Fhima's latest venture will install a new restaurant dubbed LoTo - as in Lowertown - in Galtier Plaza in downtown St. Paul, a...

The Welsh Cos. takes aggressive approach in building portfolio.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Mark Anderson The Welsh Cos. acquisition of the International Centre in Minneapolis caught a lot of people's attention last month because a) it was Welsh's first move into downtown ownership and b) the company bought all that empty...

Safe Harbor Properties closes on TIC deal in Plymouth.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff Safe Harbor Properties Exchange, formed by a joint venture between The Geneva Organization and Upland Real Estate Group Inc., both of Minneapolis, has closed on a syndicated Tenancy-in-Common (TIC) deal in Plymouth. The...

Guaranty Commercial Title adds Wendy Ethen as principal.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff Wendy Ethen has been named a principal at Guaranty Commercial Title of Minneapolis. Ethen will be responsible for sales and marketing of commercial title insurance products and for closing commercial transactions. ...

Griffin Cos. assigned leasing for Best Buy site.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff Best Buy Inc. has selected Linda Zelm and John Tramm of Minneapolis-based Griffin Cos. to market for lease its 35,250-square-foot store in the Shoppes of Woodbury Village on Valley Creek Drive, east of Interstate 494 in...

Minneapolis Builders Exchange awards scholarships.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff The Minneapolis Builders Exchange has selected five students to each receive a $1,000 scholarship. They are Dan Schuette, who is studying construction management at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Troy Nadeau,...

Nat'l Assn. of Industrial and Office Properties to team up with Hearts & Hammers.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff The Minneapolis chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties will team up with Hearts & Hammers of the Twin Cities next month to refurbish the exterior of an inner-city home. The activity,...

St. Barnabas project wins community service honor.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff The Minnesota chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has selected Central Community Housing Trust's St. Barnabas Apartments as its 2004 Community Service Project. The project - a redevelopment of the...

Grand opening soiree set for Southwest Station Condominiums.
August 26, 2004... Byline: staff A grand opening celebration for the first phase of the Southwest Station Condominiums will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at 13560 Technology Drive in Eden Prairie. Southwest Station is a mixed-use development that will...

General Growth adds another Minnesota mall to portfolio.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard The Ridgedale Center mall of Minnetonka will change hands as part of a mega-REIT deal announced last week. Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. announced plans to buy Columbia, Maryland-based Rouse Co. in a...

Builders shining a bright light on construction-site crime.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson When workers from Carl Bolander and Sons finished work at a Minneapolis construction site on a recent Friday, they left behind a brand new backhoe attachment. At some point in the next few hours, someone took a pipe...

St. Paul celebrates milestone in $50 million housing effort.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Brian Johnson There were no baton twirlers or marching bands, but St. Paul officials participated this week in what could be described as a big halftime show on the city's East Side. St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and other...

Entrepreneur hopes for sweet success from in-store partnerships.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Mary Leonard wants to make her $3.50 truffles more widely available to Twin Cities chocolate-lovers by launching at least three in-store partnerships by the end of the year. Her business, Chocolat Celeste, began its...

Former apartment buildings find new life in condo market.
August 26, 2004... Byline: Burl Gilyard From the curb, the building at 2525 Third Ave. S. in south Minneapolis does not seem destined to land on the cover of any hip design magazines. The Spartan structure, built in 1969, suggests the Late Inner-Ring Suburb...

Life Time Fitness plans new center in Chanhassen.
August 28, 2004... Byline: Staff Eden Prairie-based Life Time Fitness announced plans Friday to build a 109,000-square-foot center near Highway 5 and Highway 41 in Chanhassen's Arboretum Business Park. Company officials closed on the site this week. If...

ADC sells customer care business to U.K. firm.
August 28, 2004... Byline: Staff ADC, an Eden Prairie-based telecommunications company, announced Friday that it has completed the sale of its Singl.eView customer care and billing software business to Intec Telecom Systems for $74.5 million. Intec,...

Minneapolis Marketing Briefs August 28, 2004.
August 28, 2004... Byline: Bob Geiger Depth, research, public relations capability and creativity helped Bloomington firm Colle + McVoy win the Minnesota State Lottery's $7 million ad account this week. Colle + McVoy, which bested incumbent Minneapolis...

Hennepin County officials examine Lowry Avenue Bridge.
August 31, 2004... Byline: staff The Hennepin County Transportation Department announced Monday that it has found "structural problems" on the Lowry Avenue Bridge's large pier over the Mississippi River in North Minneapolis. The problems were discovered...

Minneapolis real estate professionals' conference to focus on healthcare facilities.
August 31, 2004... Byline: staff Trends in planning, design and construction of healthcare facilities will be the focus of a Sept. 15 conference at the University of St. Thomas' Minneapolis campus. The half-day conference - which runs from 7:30 a.m. to...