San Francisco Business Times articles from January 1999

San Francisco Business Times archives from January 1999

Economy coasting along on coattails of past year's boom.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... This year doesn't quite begin with the same roar of the last few, but local economists say it would take something extreme - and out of nowhere to slow things down dramatically. "The outlook for the economy is very good," said Sean...

Executive suites were also a departure lounge in 1998.(prominent Bay Area executives who resigned from their posts in top companies)
January 1, 1999... This company isn't big enough for both of us - or so seemed to be the prevailing sentiment after some of last year's high-profile corporate mergers. In the ensuing battles of egos, several prominent Bay Area executives found themselves...

New year will be test for Bay Area bank marriages.(1999 Business Outlook)(bank mergers)
January 1, 1999... The year ahead promises to be an active one for Bay Area bankers, with many working to make their recent mergers a success. Banking consolidation reached a fevered pitch in 1998 as the state's two largest banks were acquired by...

Biotech researchers hit mark, but financial reality looms.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... Bay Area biotechs marked 1998 with the highs of new discoveries and the plodding lows of investors. For the science of biotechnology, it was a breakthrough year on many levels, especially in drugs that harness the immune system to attack...

Trouble in paradise? Silicon Valley leads tech slowdown.(1999 Business Outlook)(technology growth)
January 1, 1999... Technology will continue to be the pulse that pumps the Bay Area economy and fuels all other market sectors in 1999, but last year's growth spurt is waning. Ironically, Santa Clara County, the region's hotbed of technology, is showing the...

Merger mania gives way to money madness in '99.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's health care industry)
January 1, 1999... The merger craze calmed somewhat this year in health care, only to be replaced by the money scramble. Medical groups tried desperately to stay afloat; specialty drug costs rose to new heights; health plans vowed that the rates can't stay...

High-flying property market is coming down to earth.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... The real estate juggernaut of the last three years hit the brakes in the second half of 1998 as global financial turbulence and jitters on Wall Street undermined the insatiable appetite for buying, selling and leasing around the Bay Area. ...

Sizzling home market will cool to steady simmer in '99.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... Once again, the past 12 months were stellar for Bay Area home buyers and sellers. Long-term fixed interest rates dropped below 7 percent, home prices surged and demand was strong. As long as the economy doesn't tank, 1999 should be good, too -...

Big tech firms eye success of Net firms as sales flatten.(1999 Business Outlook)(high technology industry; Internet; San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... The roller-coaster ride of 1998 promises to continue through 1999, as semiconductor companies struggle to recover from the Asian flu while high-flying Internet companies see sales soar. Internet and e-commerce are the most attractive...

Online sales soar as buyers connect with e-commerce.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's Internet companies)
January 1, 1999... There isn't a crystal ball clear enough to predict accurately the year ahead on the Internet. After all, who would have guessed this time last year that a glorified flea-market operation running on the web - eBay of San Jose - would have a...

Developers check in to '99 with new hotels on the books.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's hotel market)
January 1, 1999... After three years of solid improvement in room rates and occupancy, San Francisco's red-hot hotel market took a breather in 1998, a respite that is expected to linger in 1999. But the effects of the Asian flu and the resulting slowdown in...

SOMA is becoming Union Square's latest retail rival.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's South of Market Street)
January 1, 1999... Bay Area retailers and shopping center developers are holding their breath for the economy to sustain itself. They are betting on it by investing in new stores. A flurry of shopping center openings could cause shifts in the market next...

Economy coasting along on coattails of past year's boom.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... This year doesn't quite begin with the same roar of the last few, but local economists say it would take something extreme - and out of nowhere to slow things down dramatically. "The outlook for the economy is very good," said Sean...

Executive suites were also a departure lounge in 1998.(prominent Bay Area executives who resigned from their posts in top companies)
January 1, 1999... This company isn't big enough for both of us - or so seemed to be the prevailing sentiment after some of last year's high-profile corporate mergers. In the ensuing battles of egos, several prominent Bay Area executives found themselves...

New year will be test for Bay Area bank marriages.(1999 Business Outlook)(bank mergers)
January 1, 1999... The year ahead promises to be an active one for Bay Area bankers, with many working to make their recent mergers a success. Banking consolidation reached a fevered pitch in 1998 as the state's two largest banks were acquired by...

Biotech researchers hit mark, but financial reality looms.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... Bay Area biotechs marked 1998 with the highs of new discoveries and the plodding lows of investors. For the science of biotechnology, it was a breakthrough year on many levels, especially in drugs that harness the immune system to attack...

Trouble in paradise? Silicon Valley leads tech slowdown.(1999 Business Outlook)(technology growth)
January 1, 1999... Technology will continue to be the pulse that pumps the Bay Area economy and fuels all other market sectors in 1999, but last year's growth spurt is waning. Ironically, Santa Clara County, the region's hotbed of technology, is showing the...

Merger mania gives way to money madness in '99.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's health care industry)
January 1, 1999... The merger craze calmed somewhat this year in health care, only to be replaced by the money scramble. Medical groups tried desperately to stay afloat; specialty drug costs rose to new heights; health plans vowed that the rates can't stay...

High-flying property market is coming down to earth.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... The real estate juggernaut of the last three years hit the brakes in the second half of 1998 as global financial turbulence and jitters on Wall Street undermined the insatiable appetite for buying, selling and leasing around the Bay Area. ...

Sizzling home market will cool to steady simmer in '99.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... Once again, the past 12 months were stellar for Bay Area home buyers and sellers. Long-term fixed interest rates dropped below 7 percent, home prices surged and demand was strong. As long as the economy doesn't tank, 1999 should be good, too -...

Big tech firms eye success of Net firms as sales flatten.(1999 Business Outlook)(high technology industry; Internet; San Francisco Bay Area)
January 1, 1999... The roller-coaster ride of 1998 promises to continue through 1999, as semiconductor companies struggle to recover from the Asian flu while high-flying Internet companies see sales soar. Internet and e-commerce are the most attractive...

Online sales soar as buyers connect with e-commerce.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's Internet companies)
January 1, 1999... There isn't a crystal ball clear enough to predict accurately the year ahead on the Internet. After all, who would have guessed this time last year that a glorified flea-market operation running on the web - eBay of San Jose - would have a...

Developers check in to '99 with new hotels on the books.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's hotel market)
January 1, 1999... After three years of solid improvement in room rates and occupancy, San Francisco's red-hot hotel market took a breather in 1998, a respite that is expected to linger in 1999. But the effects of the Asian flu and the resulting slowdown in...

SOMA is becoming Union Square's latest retail rival.(1999 Business Outlook)(San Francisco Bay Area's South of Market Street)
January 1, 1999... Bay Area retailers and shopping center developers are holding their breath for the economy to sustain itself. They are betting on it by investing in new stores. A flurry of shopping center openings could cause shifts in the market next...

Ritz checks in to new hotel; posh operator signs in for Half Moon Bay resort.(Ritz Carlton Co. L.L.C.)
January 8, 1999... The tony Ritz Carlton Co. LLC has signed on as operating partner for a long-planned oceanfront resort development in Half Moon Bay. Jeff Mongan, senior vice president of Phoenix-based Athens Group, which is developing the $80 million,...

Good time to be Ginn: AirTouch CEO: "We're a very expensive company. Very few can afford us.".(Sam Ginn)
January 8, 1999... With two global telecommunications titans waging a multibillion-dollar battle for his company, AirTouch Communications Chairman Sam Ginn is back where he's been for most of this decade: at the center of the cellular revolution. San...

Smith & Hawken is going, going, gone.
January 8, 1999... Mill Valley-based Smith & Hawken is on the auction block. The gentrified gardening retail chain is enmeshed in its parent CML Group's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but not for long. A bankruptcy court in Massachusetts, where CML is based, is...

Gap, Pottery Barn target upscale tots.(The Gap)
January 8, 1999... The Gap and Pottery Barn are targeting over-indulgent parents, doting grandparents and spoiled children with new lines of luxury clothing and furniture for kids. The Gap introduced a line of expensive baby clothing called BabyGap Luxe this...

Repackaging Primo: designer Angeli steps back, but firm to carry on.(Primo Angeli Inc.)
January 8, 1999... Designer Angeli steps back, but firm to carry on Primo Angeli, one of the nation's most decorated commercial designers, is stepping back from overseeing daily operations of the San Francisco branding and design studio he founded more than...

Developer makes catch outside ballpark.(Douglas Rosenberg; San Francisco Giants' new San Francisco, California ballpark)
January 8, 1999... Bullish South of Market developer Douglas Rosenberg has paid nearly $8 million for a run-down structure at 160 King St. - the latest real estate grab near the San Francisco Giants' new downtown ballpark. Rosenberg, who sources say paid $7.7...

Ellis clan buys a downtown S.F. landmark.(Ellis Partners Inc.; San Francisco, California)
January 8, 1999... Ellis Partners Inc. is ringing in the New Year where it left off in 1998 - snapping up Bay Area property. The latest purchase for the acquisition-minded real estate company is downtown San Francisco's 111 Sutter St., a historic 22-story...

Progress linked to tradition for growing Chinese Hospital.(San Francisco, California)
January 8, 1999... Chinese Hospital is hoping to become a center point for linking Western science with the wisdom of the East. The small nonprofit hospital, which has turned around from $3 million in losses in 1990 to a surplus of $450,000, is in the process...

Tools for travel: high-tech tools tie execs to the office, but they also let them get away.(48-Hour Getaways)
January 8, 1999... Entrepreneurs supposedly own their businesses, but sometimes it seems as if their companies own them. When asked when she last went on a real vacation, a typical entrepreneur gives a sad smile and a grim confession: too long ago. Today's...

All in the neighborhood: a multi-garage firm.(Small Business Growth Strategies)(WorkRite Ergonomics)
January 8, 1999... What's better than one garage when you are starting your own company? How about two neighboring garages and a third one across town? Seven years ago, three Novato friends - Brenda Hartley, Ray Henricksen and Tom James - joined forces and...

Highrise market comes alive: Citicorp Center on block.
January 15, 1999... In a test of the downtown market's strength, the owners of San Francisco's prized Citicorp Center are putting the 43-story office tower on the selling block. Early estimates on the price of the 545,000-square-foot skyscaper, which is...

Tower selling for $95M.(Highrise Market Comes Alive)(office building at 505 Montgomery St., San Francisco, California)
January 15, 1999... Houston-based Hines Interests LP, backed by CalPERS money, has put San Francisco's 505 Montgomery St. under contract for an estimated $95 million. The trophy 24-story office building, considered one of the city's finest, was put up for...

Goose spreads wings.(Granny Goose Foods Inc.)
January 15, 1999... Snack maker flies ahead as a bird of a different feather Granny Goose Foods has put its chips on the table, rolling out new products and expanding outside California as it attempts to loosen Frito Lay's stranglehold on the snacks market....

Epiphany experiences new cash, clients.(software company)
January 15, 1999... Software maker sharpens strategy; forget about your low profile Epiphany, the closely watched Silicon Valley startup led by former KPMG Peat Marwick chief Roger Siboni, is taking the wraps off a new corporate strategy. The Palo...

Wente toasts deal with Indian vintner.(Wente Vineyards partners with Champagne India Ltd.)
January 15, 1999... Livermore's Wente Vineyards has found a passage to India and a potentially huge market of i billion people. Wente, which already has the highest proportion of foreign sales of any U.S. winery, has formed a partnership with India's largest...

Ex-Cushman exec to lead Insignia's charge into S.F.(Insignia/ESG Inc. hires David Churton to head commercial leasing operation in San Francisco, California)
January 15, 1999... After months of fits and starts, Insignia/ESG Inc. has finally signaled it wants a piece of the San Francisco brokerage pie. The fast-growing New York-based real estate services company has tapped David Churton to head up its commercial...

Dave Grubb Sr.(Swinerton Chmn and CEO)
January 15, 1999... EXECUTIVE PROFILE Name: Dave Grubb Sr. Title: Chairman and CEO. Company: Swinerton Inc., the 111-year-old, San Francisco-based builder. Education: Bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Princeton University;...

Bay Area clubs let novice investors navigate the market together.(investment clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area)
January 15, 1999... Unlike other novice investors, Janine Jones and the 15 other members of the Angel Heart Investment Club weren't scared off by the stock market downturn last summer. "We're all women in the group, and we know about shopping," Jones said....

Convincing others to try something new.(Fine Line Group owner John Santori)(Company Profile)
January 15, 1999... In the last 20 years, contractor John Santori has rebuilt himself, his company and the construction industry at least a half a dozen times. Changing the course of his own life wasn't difficult. If Santori had followed his original career...

Nat Goldhaber.(CyberGold founder)
January 15, 1999... Name: Nat Goldhaber. Company: Berkeley-based CyberGold Inc., a $5 million to $15 million Internet startup that aims to have advertisers pay people directly for reading their ads. People can then use the money to buy content that is...

British software firm to eat C-ATS.(Misys PLC to acquire C-ATS Software Inc.)
January 15, 1999... C-ATS Software Inc., a Palo Alto developer of sophisticated financial software, is being acquired by a London competitor. Misys PLC has agreed to pay $7.50 per share for C-ATS, or roughly $60 million. The tender offer has a green light from...

New hotel crowns Bloomies.(negotiations between Regent International Corp. and Forest City Development Corp. for the construction of a 400-room hotel atop the Bloomingdale's store in San Francisco, California)
January 22, 1999... Regent, ForestCity close to inking five-star deal Regent International Hotels is in exclusive negotiations to build a hotel atop the proposed Bloomingdale's store in San Francisco. Regent executives said they are "very close" to a deal...

Colossal comeback.(financial revival of San Francisco, California-based multimedia film studio Colossal Pictures)
January 22, 1999... Back from the brink, multimedia studio prepares for blastoff Colossal Pictures has clawed its way back from bankruptcy, dousing a five-year fiscal firestorm that threatened to shutter San Francisco's oldest multimedia film studio. The...

Power shift favors four at Kaiser.(management reorganization at Kaiser Permanente's California office)
January 22, 1999... Kaiser Permanente is fortifying its California management team as it struggles to stem the tide of red ink in its largest market. Touched off by the impending retirement of California President Richard Barnaby, the move elevates four recent...

Texas REIT drops $127M in huge Bay Area property buy.(American Industrial Properties Real Estate Investment Trust)
January 22, 1999... American Industrial Properties, a Texas-based real estate investment trust, is charging into the Northern California market with a nearly 1 million-square-foot portfolio grab. The $127 million transaction, which closed Jan. 19, totals...

CEO ousted in major shakeup at BayCare.(termination of BayCare Medical Group CEO Michael Martin)
January 22, 1999... BayCare Medical Group has fired its CEO, canceled its contracts with the management group he represented, and hired a Santa Rosa group to manage the organization. Gone is Michael Martin, M.D., with his Advocates for Primary Care. Martin...

Green Mountain aims war chest at California's energy market.(Green Mountain Energy Resources LLC)
January 22, 1999... Green Mountain Energy has raised another $25 million, earmarked, in part, to woo reluctant California electricity consumers in 1999. Vermont-based Green Mountain spent about $20 million last year, mostly in Northern California, to introduce...

Executive profile.(Golden Link TV Inc. President and CEO Eddie Whitehead)
January 22, 1999... Name: Eddie Whitehead. Title: President and CEO. Company: Golden Link TV Inc. Golden Link is licensed to operate KPST TV 66, the San Francisco-based Chinese-language television station. Also, Whitehead is president and CEO of Whitehead...

Geron's looking for the switch to turn cancer off.(search for an immortality gene and a cure for cancer)
January 22, 1999... One day, a doctor will take a patient's blood sample, run a simple test and be able to detect cancer at a stage earlier than ever thought possible. The same doctor may then prescribe pills for the patient that would kill off the cancer...

New drugs put Genentech back in the race for a cure.
January 22, 1999... After nearly abandoning cancer research in the mid-1990s, Genentech Inc. has emerged as the Bay Area's most successful biotech in marketing oncology products. In the last two years, Genentech has put two cancer drugs, Rituxan and...

From consulting to running a consulting firm.(profile of business information consultancy firm BASE Consulting Group Inc.)(Company Profile)
January 22, 1999... Like many successful entrepreneurs, James Wirth, Jonathan Wu, Chris Wheaton and Tim Donahue never intended to start their own company. Presented with an opportunity to do some consulting work, the foursome quit their jobs, quickly got hooked on...

Cancer fears drive Levi out of building.(Levi Strauss and Co.; Saddleman Building)
January 29, 1999... But studies by Levi and landlord say the property is safe Levi Strauss & Co. abandoned one of its headquarters buildings last fall after seven women who worked there developed breast cancer, the Business Times has learned. Now, as the...

Warriors gird for battle; team challenge: keeping sponsors.(Golden State Warriors)
January 29, 1999... The Golden State Warriors have taken a hit from the NBA lockout, but the worst damage may not come until next season when the team tries to lure back disaffected fans and corporate clients, experts say. The team won't talk about its...

Working Assets hangs up service.
January 29, 1999... Says PacBell foiled its attempt to break into local market San Francisco's Working Assets has pulled the plug on local residential phone service and is transferring its 1,400 local customers back to Pacific Bell. The company, with...

Cash crunch keeps hotel builders on sidelines: only three firms respond tgo S.F. port's call for proposals for luxury waterfront hotel.
January 29, 1999... Only three developers have stepped up with plans to build a major full-service hotel along San Francisco's North Waterfront - a sign, perhaps, that the bloom is off the hotel boom's rose. Responding to the Port of San Francisco's call for a...

Biotech takes aim at addictions: DrugAbuse Sciences eyes public offering in 2000.
January 29, 1999... SangStat founder Philippe Pouletty, M.D., is using his signature approach in drug development to tackle cocaine, heroin and alcohol. Pouletty's DrugAbuse Sciences Inc., which has joint headquarters in Palo Alto and Paris, is in clinical...

H-P aims to score PC buyers with World Cup deal.(Hewlett-Packard Co.)
January 29, 1999... Hewlett-Packard Co. wants to add women's soccer fans to its roster of home computer buyers. The Palo Alto-based computer giant is close to inking a deal for worldwide marketing rights to the 1999 Women's World Cup, which is being hosted by...

Lycos makes date with S.F. startup's web calendar.(Lycos Inc; Amplitude Software Inc.)
January 29, 1999... San Francisco's Amplitude Software has found a consumer market for a piece of web-based software used by harried business executives to keep track of appointments, schedule meetings and plan important corporate announcements. Internet...

Aurora proves good things come in new packages.(Aurora Foods Inc.)
January 29, 1999... I am Wilson is a food-industry veteran who has made a specialty out of giving new homes to orphaned products in need of a little extra care and attention. His company, San Francisco's Aurora Foods Inc., was founded in 1995 to give aging...

ProBusiness' rapid growth leaves a trail of red ink.(ProBusiness Services Inc.)
January 29, 1999... ProBusiness Services Inc. has enjoyed dramatic growth in revenues, clients and employees over the past five years by hitching its fortunes to the outsourcing trend. The Pleasanton-based firm, which provides payroll processing, payroll tax...

Fast-rising Cambria looks for new ways to clean up.(Cambria Environmental Technology Inc.)
January 29, 1999... Cambria Environmental Technology Inc. has made a rapid rise toward the top of the sludge heap in the hazardous-waste analysis and treatment business, but it's now looking for new peaks to climb. With sales approaching $5 million, founder...