San Francisco Business Times articles from October 1999

San Francisco Business Times archives from October 1999

Chevron buildings snag buyer.(Tishman Speyer Properties buys two office buildings in San Francisco, CA)
October 1, 1999... New York's Tishman Speyer to pay $190M for oil company's S.F. digs A prominent New York-based real estate company without a major presence in San Francisco has emerged as the buyer of Chevron Corp.'s two downtown office buildings. ...

CAr giant shifts gears for sale.(FirstAmerica Automotive Inc. to be acquired by Sonic Automotive Inc.)
October 1, 1999... FirstAmerica drives into the arms of Sears Point Raceway owner The Bay Area's largest car dealership has quietly agreed to be sold to a rapidly growing national chain, ending its drive to be a survivor in the quickly consolidating auto...

Levi chalks up new plan for Slates.(Levi Strauss and Co.'s Slates Div.)
October 1, 1999... Can Levi dress the dot-com generation? Parent Levi Strauss & Co. is betting big that it can. The troubled San Francisco apparel maker has completely retooled its Slates division, adding shirts, sweaters and jackets for the first time to its...

Union Bank sharpens its ax for job cuts.(Union Bank of California)
October 1, 1999... First round of pink slips takes hold as bank seeks $135M in savings Some 600 Union Bank of California employees will lose their jobs later this month as the bank steps up its war on costs. Workers in late August received 60-day notices...

Still the life of the party.(Banc of America Securities' investment conference)
October 1, 1999... New ownership hasn't taken shine off annual bash at old Montgomery Banc of America Securities held its first investment conference under the investment bank's new name, ownership and management. The verdict: It was just as excessive and...

Office project squeezes through Berkeley loophole.(SPI Holdings wins contract to build office complex in California)
October 1, 1999... Berkeley's zoning board has approved a 140,000-square-foot office project in the West Berkeley area, fanning the flames of a debate whether the neighborhood's restrictive zoning plan is stymying economic development. SPI Holdings of San...

AMB hits up private investors for $300 million fund.(AMB Property Corp.)
October 1, 1999... San Francisco-based AMB Property Corp. has raised $300 million in buying power from a group of private investors to fuel its ongoing acquisition and development capabilities. The new fund, called AMB Institutional Alliance Fund I, is a...

Two deals push Greater Bay Bancorp into East Bay.(acquisition of Mt. Diablo Bancshares and Bay Bank of Commerce)
October 1, 1999... Greater Bay Bancorp has ringed the Bay Area's business banking market with two East Bay acquisitions that will add more than $350 million in assets to the Palo Alto-based lender's base. Prior to the acquisitions, Greater Bay's focus had...

Thomas Wu.(CEO and president of UCBH Holdings Inc.)
October 1, 1999... Name: Thomas Wu. Title: President and CEO. Company: UCBH Holdings Inc., the San Francisco-based holding company for United Commercial Bank. With more than $2 billion in assets and 25 branches in Northern and Southern California, United...

Setting the Pace.(marketing consultancy firm Pace Design Group)
October 1, 1999... Consultants helping businesses make the move to e-commerce You may not have heard of Pace Design Group, but you've seen its handiwork. The San Francisco-based marketing and communications consulting firm has designed looks and campaigns for...

Phil Ferris.(president of Oakland Paper and Supply Inc.)
October 1, 1999... Title: President. Company: Oakland Paper & Supply Inc., a paper products distributor that provides packaging services and janitorial supplies, as well as food service and communications papers. 1998 Revenue: $17 million, but we expect...

Wells Fargo buys real estate powerhouse.(Eastdil Realty LLC)
October 8, 1999... Bank bags Eastdil Realty for $200M for push into lucrative New York market Wells Fargo & Co. will acquire a top commercial real estate advisory firm in a brash move to cash in on New York City's lucrative real estate market. The San...

Forest City drives into Richmond.(Forest City Residential West will)
October 8, 1999... Developer to revive waterfront with $102M rehab project Forest City Residential West and Richmond officials have inked a deal for a $102 million renovation that will turn the city s historic but long-vacant Ford plant into 246 live-work...

Levi, adman reunite to spark sales.(TBWA Chiat/Day taps Chuck McBride to oversee advertising for Levi Strauss & Co)
October 8, 1999... A hotshot ad executive who created some of Levi's most memorable advertising is riding back into town to put some creative knitting into the threadbare brand. Chuck McBride has been hired by TBWA Chiat/Day to run the creative side of the...

S.F., broker feud as 18 city retail spots stay empty.(Grubb and Ellis Co; San Francisco, CA)
October 8, 1999... After three years of marketing, negotiations and a lawsuit, the 15 storefronts lining the street level of San Francisco's huge Fifth and Mission Parking Garage remain virtually empty. The 28,000 square feet of retail units are located in...

BofA unit files suit against defecting bond managers.(Bank of America Corp)
October 8, 1999... The surprise exit of Bank of America Corp. institutional bond managers and customers has led to a lawsuit against the defecting managers. Seven employees o f BofA's Sovran Capital Management unit left the firm Sept. 22 and formed Agincourt...

Dot-coms create virtual swap meet for ad sellers.(AdAuction.com and BuyMedia.com serve as auction houses over the Internet for buyers and sellers of advertising)
October 8, 1999... Two Bay Area companies are working to create an Internet marketplace for the ad industry, a virtual market square where buyers and sellers of advertising can meet and haggle. AdAuction.com and BuyMedia.com are at the forefront of the move...

Feeding a hungry market.(SPINS Inc is growing by providing data to health food manufacturers)
October 8, 1999... Market research firm grows fat from health food industry Paddy Spence is working his way up his industry's food chain. Spence is the founder of SPINS Inc., a San Francisco-based market research firm that provides data to health food...

Mike Grossman.(Burlingame, CA-based NetEarnings Inc. President and CEO Mike Grossman)
October 8, 1999... Title: President and CEO. Company: Burlingame-based NetEarnings Inc., provider of Internet-based, real-time, small business financial services through www.loanwise.com, an online financing center for small businesses. 1998 revenue: $1...

Levi showing new signs of fraying in S.F.(Levi Strauss and Co.'s selling of its two office buildings in San Francisco, California)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Fading giant moves out of two buildings, puts them up for sale Levi Strauss & Co. is shrinking to fit its fading San Francisco presence, vacating two more office buildings at its North Waterfront campus. The troubled apparel maker is...

Bond agency cuts Levi credit rating.(Moody's Investors Service; Levi Strauss and Co.)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Levi Strauss & Co.'s debt has been downgraded to junk-bond status, a further indication of the company's continuing decline. Citing "weaker than anticipated financial performance," Moody's Investors Service cut its ratings on $2.3 billion...

No longer home on the range.(closing of six of Marin County, California's dairy ranches)
October 15, 1999... Rising costs, competition have historic dairy herds stampeding out of Marin Six of west Marin County's signature dairy ranches, among California's oldest farms, have closed in the last month, signaling a major shift in the rural region's...

S.F.'s 201 Spear St. tower to sell for $62 million.(San Francisco, California; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... A Connecticut-based real estate adviser backed by one of the nation's biggest insurance companies is buying 201 Spear St. in downtown San Francisco for more than $60 million. Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers Inc., a subsidiary of giant...

E-Loan heads to Europe.(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... But Net lender faces rough patch at home Online mortgage lender E-Loan Inc. has formally announced European expansion plans, just as it faces its first hiccup as a publicly held company and a serious challenge from another Net rival. ...

E-Trade bolsters mutual funds, adds asset management.(E*TRADE Group Inc.)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... Menlo Park's E-Trade Group is broadening its 8-month-old mutual fund offensive with two new products taking advantage of its well-heeled stable of small investors, and expanding for the first time into active asset management. The company...

Robertson Stephens leaps forward in backing IPOs.(initial public offerings)(Statistical Data Included)
October 15, 1999... The newly rechristened Robertson Stephens sailed past local rivals in the IPO underwriting race in the third quarter, landing itself in second place among offering managers nationwide. That was good enough to put it in ninth spot for the...

That SoMa look.(O+a Inc.)(Company Profile)
October 15, 1999... Mod new design firms create startup space with a flair, on high-tech turnaround times Verda Alexander and Primo Orpilla cut their design teeth in the era of downsizing, helping their traditional clients cut spending and revive dead space....

Workers' demands shake up cube-makers' market.(trends in office design)
October 15, 1999... Adapt. Be multifunctional. Work as a team. Work smarter, As the competition rises in today's office world, companies are expecting far more creativity and productivity from their workers. Many are also realizing that they won't get it in a...

Designers aim spotlights on staff's personal space.(office design firms)
October 15, 1999... The list of ways computers have changed the modern office is end less, but the most radical change to the naked eye may just be coming to the fore. With changes to the layout of today's "cube farms" - where staff sits quasi-separated in...

Saving time and money.(Aegis Mortgage Acceleration Corp.)(Company Profile)
October 15, 1999... Aegis Mortgage and customers cash in on quirk of the calendar People who pay their mortgage monthly generally make 12 payments a year - about once every four weeks. But because there are 52 weeks a year, there are 13 four-week periods...

Flyswat takes aim.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... San Francisco web firm keeps information, e-shoppers buzzing A San Francisco startup with an odd name is cutting through the Internet clutter to change the way people obtain information and go shopping on the web. Flyswat Inc. has...

Peninsula prize: $100M site.(Redwood City)(Pacific Shores Center)(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... One question remains: Who will win the chance to build? A short list of big-time developers is circling the Bay Area's largest undeveloped and fully entitled business park site in what insiders estimate could fetch $100 million or more. ...

E-Stamp ads try to lick competition.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Internet postage provider E-Stamp, fresh off its initial public offering, will spend more than $71 million in an all-out marketing blitz that begins this week. The advertising budget for the San Mateo-based company is large even by Net...

Schwab launches $100M charity fund.(Charles Schwab Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... But tax break for investors leaves IRS feeling less than charitable Charles Schwab Corp. has launched a philanthropic fund that it hopes will help 2,000 good-hearted investors donate $100 million in its first year -- and land a healthy tax...

Lippo ditches Demos, sells out to St. Louis bank.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Lippo Bank, the San Francisco-based institution that made headlines with its alleged ties to a Democratic fund-raising scandal in 1997 and an aborted sale earlier this year, will be bought by First Banks America Inc. Details of the deal,...

Cigarettes Cheaper treats smokers nice.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Smokers today are pushed outside their workplaces, driven from their restaurant tables and banished to the ramps of sporting stadiums. But Benicia-based Cigarettes Cheaper has found that it pays to champion the cause, or at least the vice,...

Lawyers: Adios partner track, hello dot-com riches.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Ted Urschel came from an old-line law firm, the kind supposedly defined by dark wood furniture, ponderous theorizing and swarms of paper. By all rights, he and his kind should be getting eaten alive in startups, where the only rule is not...

Oakland's Swan's Market to get facelift.
October 22, 1999... A nonprofit developer is puffing the finishing touches on a $17.5 million overhaul of Oakland's Swan's Market, a long-vacant, but historic, downtown property. The East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. will welcome tenants to Swan's next...

Holyfield gets it in the shorts.(Evander Holyfield to have ad on boxing shorts)(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... In another example of dot-com advertising madness, San Francisco's AdAuction has sold space on the boxing trunks of Evander Holyfield for his upcoming rematch with Lennox Lewis. CI Host.com, a Fort Worth, Texas-based web hosting company,...

Oakland's Bowl bid a long shot.
October 22, 1999... Now that San Francisco is out of the running, Oakland has kicked off a renewed effort to land a Super Bowl across the Bay. The city created the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission a couple of months ago to bring the NFL's glitzy...

Rise & Fall.
October 22, 1999... A barometer of the region's movers, shakers and fakers Ed Whitacre In words of PacBell parent's boss, telecom companies are in a race to get to the consumer with high-speed Internet access. He's anteing up $6 billion to enter, and...

$200M Rincon Center falls into Wall Street's hands.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... San Francisco's troubled Rincon Center is now in the hands of one of Wall Street's best known opportunity funds. Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, a New York-based firm with investments worth nearly $7 billion, acquired the 1...

First Select turns debtors into Providian customers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... A young subsidiary of Providian Financial Corp. has inked pacts to buy more than $1 billion in castoff credit-card debt. First Select Corp. of Pleasanton stands to collect three to five times its upfront costs of buying banks' fresh...

ABD tops $70M through new merger.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... ABD Insurance and Financial Services has added to its burgeoning employee benefits consulting portfolio by merging with HCM Benefits Inc. With the Oct 1 deal, Belmont-based ABD added HCM's $8.5 million in revenue and 360 employee benefits...

Inside Traders.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Inside Traders A look at buying and selling of shares by Bay Area executives Walter Hewlet Director Hewlett Packard Co. Shares sold: 110,000...

If 49ers' Young retires, team could take financial hit.(Steve Young)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Steve Young has the most talked-about cranium in sports. With speculation growing that concussions could force the San Francisco 49ers' star quarterback into retirement, observers wonder about the team's long reign as a financial juggernaut...

Seren rolls cables into Contra Costa.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Seren Innovations Inc. signed a $12 million contract with Focal Communications this week, going head-to-head with AT&T/TCI to offer telephone and cable services to Contra Costa residents. The Minneapolis cable operator inked a deal with...

Wells Fargo registers record profits.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Wells Fargo & Co.'s third-quarter profit rose 30 percent to a record $962 million, or $0.65 per diluted common share. "The successful merger of equals of Norwest and Wells Fargo and the complementary strengths of both organizations now have...

Small bank sells to big bank.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... CivicBank of Commerce announced it will buy East County Bank in an estimated $14.6 million cash deal, according to the East Bay institutions. East County shareholders will receive $23.96 per share. The deal is expected to close in early...

Bay View Bank merger approved.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Shareholders of Bay View Capital Corp. and Franchise Mortgage Acceptance Co. have approved the $309 million merger of the two companies. The deal is expected to close Nov. 1. The companies rewrote the merger agreement in August to limit total...

CNET acquires web search company.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... CNET Inc. acquired SavvySearch Ltd. for $22 million in cash and stock. Integration of SavvySearch's Internet search capabilities with San Francisco-based CNET's network will begin in the fourth quarter.

Ad firm Left Field splits in two.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... San Francisco-based advertising firm Left Field, LLC, has split in two. Partners Fred Schwartz, Kevin Burke, and Michael McMahon have parted over differences of opinion on how the business should develop. Most of the company's clients have...

Sun shines with doubled earnings.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Sun Microsystems Inc. has doubled earnings due to strong sales of its server computers, which run high-traffic Internet sites. For the period that ended Sept. 26, net income rose to $271.1 million, or 33 cents a share, compared to the $113.9...

SmartMoney gets more cash.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Hearst Corp. and Dow Jones & Co. will jointly invest an additional $30 million in SmartMoney.com between now and 2001. The investment is specifically to fund expansion of smartMoney.com, which provides a free investment news, tools and advice...

Charles Schwab profits on the rise.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Online and discount broker Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. reported third quarter net income of $124.5 million, up 25 percent from last year's third-quarter net income of $97.8 million. Profits were up 27 percent to $151 million.

Commerce One opens in Canada.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Commerce One, the Walnut Creek provider of e-commerce procurement solutions, opened its new Canadian office in Toronto, dubbed Commerce One Canada. The announcement comes on the heels of the company's recent expansions in Munich and Hamburg,...

Venture group gains Cisco interest.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Palo Alto-based Greater Bay Bancorp's Venture Banking Group will cash in on warrants for 142,000 shares of Cerent Corp., as a result of the sale of the private company to Cisco Systems Inc. The Palo Alto-based bank will gain an ownership...

H-P pushes into the wireless world.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Hewlett-Packard Co. is extending its e-services Internet product into the wireless world by integrating its hardware and software products to deliver more Internet content to handheld devices. The company has lined up 24 partners, including...

Banana Republic now online.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Banana Republic launched its online store, making it the second Gap Inc. division to roll out an e-commerce site. Banana Republic now sells men's and women's clothing online, plus housewares and accessories. The site also includes a gift...

Health firms consolidate networks.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... McKesson HBOC Inc.'s Supply Management Business has consolidated its network management and managed care contracting services with those of Strategic Health Alliance. McKesson said the partnership will cover more than 3,200 pharmacies....

The Good Guys get access @Home.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... The Good Guys announced it will offer high-speed Internet access via @Home. The Good Guys is the first retailer to join Excite@Home's retail merchandising program. This announcement also marks an initiative for the San Francisco-based retailer...

David Grannan.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Name: David Grannan. Title: President and CEO. Company: Geoworks, the Alameda-based provider of wireless e-commerce and information services for the consumer market. Education: Bachelor of arts degree in English literature from...

Warning: E-startups may lead to dot-com depression.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... I've got a confession to make... I'm suffering from dot-com depression. Now, before you start worrying about me, you'll be be happy to know that I can still crack a smile, go to work and be nice to my family. I'm not taking Prozac or...

eFax.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... eFax, the Menlo Park-based provider of fax-to-email services, is doing its part to ensure that stand-alone fax machines are relegated to the trash heap of business history. Last week, the company reached the 1.25 million customer mark in less...

Gator.com.
October 22, 1999... Gator.com, the San Mateo-based digital wallet startup, has inked a partnership with NextCard, the San Francisco-based online credit card issuer.

NetCentives.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... NetCentives, the San Francisco-based online promotions company, joined the publicly traded fold last week. Alas, the company's stock has fallen below its offering price. NetCentives raised $72 million in its IPO, but the shares, which began...

Bay Area's trust business losing elbow room - fast.(First Republic Bank)(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Smaller banks are jostling for space -- and wealthy clients' long-term money -- in the evercrowding Bay Area trust business. First Republic Bank announced Oct.12 it hired former Pacific Bank trust department chief Bruce Anderson to launch...

BofA e-commerce site targets merchants, Wells.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... With its new service for building an online store, Bank of America Corp. is lifting clients into the e-commerce world and trying to head off Wells Fargo & Co. More importantly, both BofA and Wells are playing on the trust customers still...

Providian's Aria plans flight on LookSmart site.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... Providian Financial Corp. signed a oneyear agreement with LookSmart Ltd. that establishes the Internet directory and search engine as a primary online advertising channel for Providian's online credit card, the Aria Visa Providian, based...

Thrifty Car Rental jacks up Bay Area market share.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... A trio of San Francisco Thrifty Car Rental franchise owners have bought pieces of the split-up Bay Area Rentals, a local car, truck and van rental company that has 17 local locations and 1,100 cars. J.M.T. Leasing Inc. bought 11 of the...

Fairmont merger complete.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... The Fairmont Hotel Co. merger with Canadian Pacific Hotels is complete, making the San Francisco flagship and its six satellites part of a new Fairmont Hotels & Resorts company with 34 properties in North America. The new management...

Local HFTP gets new head.
October 22, 1999... Steve Chasnin, director of finance for the San Francisco Hilton and Towers, is the new head of the Northern California Chapter of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), a professional organization for hotel, restaurant,...

Boise Cascade offshoot nails 4th buy-up for year.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... San Francisco's quiet construction concern, Building Materials Holding Corp., bought its fourth finished-product producer for the year this week and announced third-quarter earnings that company officials predict will push it past $1 billion...

Quake city's real estate shakes up record books.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... After a slow first half of 1999, the Bay Area rocked in the third quarter. According to CR Richard Ellis Inc., the region racked up 2.77 million square feet of absorption, the highest in any single quarter since 1992. San Francisco led the way,...

303 Second St. up for sale -- may fetch $220M.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 22, 1999... The former Marathon Plaza, a 700,000-square-foot office complex at 303 Second St., is being sold by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc., sources said. Lend Lease, through an opportunity fund, acquired the two-building complex about three...

Tenantless 'Landmark' loses on E-Offering deal.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... The Landmark, a $100 million renovation project at the foot of Market Street, is still tenantless several months after marketing kicked off. Most notably, a major deal with E-Offering is dead, sources said. The online investment bank, formed...

Two new large S.F. projects get under way.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... South of Market Street, the Baker Hamilton building is revving up for a summer 2000 opening. The 210,000-square-foot project at Seventh and Townsend streets has awesome views of the bay and is perfect for brick-and-timber-craving web-based...

Franklin Select agrees to sell real estate interests.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... San Mateo's Franklin Select Realty Trust Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to sell its remaining real estate interests for $131.5 million to Value Enhancement Fund III, LLC, a real estate fund managed by New York-based Lend Lease Real...

Taylor Woodrow Homes.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Taylor Woodrow Homes, part of London-based Taylor Woodrow PLC, has acquired about eight acres of residential development land in Novato. The parcel, to be known as Chapel Hill, forms part of the master-planned community at the former Hamilton...

B2B: The next frontier.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Internet companies turn to $90 billion business-to-business sector for ready clients Weyerhaeuser Co. grows trees, from which it makes things like two-by-fours, plywood, doors and other building products. Cisco Systems makes high-speed...

Dot-com links chemicals to clients in Net auctions.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Kevin Polucha needed some polyethylene, and he needed it fast. Some 48 bouts and 800,000 pounds of resin later, the vice president of Quality Polymers Inc. found an additional supplier, opened the door to new markets and eventually made "a...

Aeneid helps clients sail into new Internet portals.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... When Red Herring magazine set up its web site, its aim was to be the online destination for Internet business news. The only problem was that its search engine allowed readers to recall articles written by Red Herring staffers only, and not the...

Net puts power into purchases.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... Idaho Power could keep every electric circuit running in Boise and masterplan blizzard relief efforts, but buying office supplies was getting out of control. Some departments at the Boise-based utility were ordering office supplies from...

Moai bids on auctions to build clients' stock in trade.(Brief Article)
October 22, 1999... I fonline auctions work for Beanie Babies and Velvet Elvines, then why not for industrial-sized rolls of paper and excess computer parts? Enter Moai Technologies Inc., a fast-growing San Francisco startup that acts like an...