Paul Estridge Jr. has filed a petition to try to stop the state from collecting a fee stemming from the sale of his minority stake in Indiana Downs horse track in Shelbyville. Estridge, of Carmel, claims that the fee is in effect a transfer tax, and that the tax is unconstitutional, according to The Courier-Journal […]
The newly formed Carmel Institute has offered $20 million for the former Hilbert mansion, according to a source familiar with the bid. That bid matches Conseco Inc.’s asking price for the mansion, which has been on the market for two years. Conseco won control of the residence during a court battle with former CEO Steve […]
ParaPRO LLC, a startup specialty pharmaceutical company that’s developing a novel treatment for head lice, has received a $2.1 million grant from the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced today. The grant will allow the Carmel company to complete clinical trials of its medicine for head lice and their […]
Warren G. Lichtenstein, who has made a name for himself by launching hostile takeovers, has made his dissatisfaction with Conseco Inc. public in a Securities and Exchange filing. Lichtenstein said he plans to review investment in the Carmel insurer by his Steel Partners II fund and start discussions with Conseco managers and directors “concerning the […]
Residential real-estate broker Andy Tarbutton typically wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to market a home just because a job transfer prompted the sale. But the ripple effects of the woeful housing market are causing agents and the corporate community to rethink the way they handle relocations. Not long ago, employees weren’t usually opposed to making a move to better their careers, because they were almost certain to turn a profit on their homes. Now, they’re afraid they’ll lose equity. “My…
After 12 months of market research, MCL cafeterias discovered younger folks and families aren’t familiar with the taste of
the Mayfield’s Value Plate or the Noon Special. So the company has launched a $1 million campaign to reposition its brand.
We don’t have to be obsessed with property taxes. All is not dreadful despite the clamor of some disaffected taxpayers. For example, La-Porte has two operating barbershops on the same street downtown. This warms the heart. Equally positive is finding an excellent housing stock in LaPorte, with many beautiful homes painted in a joyous, imaginative fashion. Can you believe the McDonald’s in Winamac opens at 4:30 a.m. and keeps its drive-through open 24 hours a day? That alone suggests a…
Growing up in Detroit, Andrew T. Porter had an early education in men’s fashion. The son of a minister, he recalls admiring the Sunday best of his father and members of the congregation. In his neighborhood, “there was a clothing store on every corner,” Porter said. “I always had an eye for putting things together. It came naturally to me.” Porter remained a student of fashion, even though he worked in manufacturing. When a friend who owned a Detroit clothing…
Hanging out at the art world’s water cooler, but don’t know how to break the ice? Here are several topics IBJ has identified that will be on the tips of the tongues wagging in the local arts scene. Read and discuss amongst yourselves. What do you think of Max Anderson’s leadership at the Indianapolis Museum of Art? Since taking over in mid-2006, staff say Anderson is constantly beating this drum: The IMA is a top-10 encyclopedic museum; it’s time we…
Moody’s Investors Service has slapped Conseco Inc. with a downgrade of its senior debt to “negative” from “stable.” The change was sparked by “sub-par earnings” in the past year, according to Bloomberg. Moody’s also is concerned about a string of one-time charges the company has sustained. The Carmel insurer lost $65 million in the second […]
At the top of a lunch-time retail roundup: Downtown’s Bearno’s Pizza has closed and will be replaced by Flagstar Bank. A sign on the door says to look for Bearno’s elsewhere in…
Todd Jameson knows how to get Hoosiers off the sofa. Up until two years ago, he was producer of the Indiana Flower and Patio Show and the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show-two of the most popular annual events in Indianapolis. But a dollar to a cholesterol-laden doughnut says his next gig will be his most difficult: getting some of the nation’s heaviest, most cigarette-addicted people off the couch and to the firstever Natural Living Expo, next January. Jameson figures the…
Riverside Manufacturing was a sleepy New Castle firm with $5 million in sales when Fred Merritt bought it to try his hand
at running a company. Five years later, Riverside’s sales have grown a whopping 800 percent, it dominates its industry, and
Merritt, 39, is ready to work his magic on an Indianapolis company.
Sooner or later, in the life of almost every building owner, there comes a time when a structure has outlived its usefulness in its current condition. A choice between two options must be made. Do we renovate or do we demolish and build something totally new? The answer is by no means easy or automatic. Confronted with these options, an owner must grapple with a host of issues. The following sample is not exhaustive but may prove helpful as a…
A growing percentage of men and women nationwide are reaching a career crossroads at a time when most would hope to have it
made. Almost a quarter of the 3.8 million Americans displaced from their jobs from 2003-2005 were 55 or older, according to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 21 percent in the prior three years.
LESSONS LEARNED ALBERT RENE TREVINO Owner, Rene’s Bakery As most entrepreneurs can attest, the process of running a small business includes facing plenty of challenges. But viewing those potential obstacles as opportunities has helped Albert Rene Trevino build Rene’s Bakery Inc. into a growing enterprise with a solid reputation. One of his biggest trials was getting the doors to his Broad Ripple shop open. Trevino had just parted ways with a former employer in 2004 when he stopped by the…
First Indiana Corp.’s announcement that it would be sold to Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $529 million in cash
came just 17 days after sale discussions began. Banking observers have speculated for weeks that First Indiana acted fast
to cut a deal before it would have to report second-quarter results.
Michigan-based Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust and a Chicago-based partner, Heilman LLC, have purchased Nora Plaza on the northeast side for an undisclosed price. The 304,000-square-foot center is 93-percent occupied and anchored by a Target store, plus Wild Oats Natural Marketplace and Marshalls. The seller was locally based PK Partners LLC, which owns several other retail centers […]
For two years in a row, the Indianapolis-Carmel metro area has been the nation’s most affordable major housing market, the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo said yesterday. An index shows that 87 percent of new and existing homes sold in the second quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s $63,800 median […]
It’s taken contractors 16 months, but repairs to thousands of central Indiana houses and cars following storms in March and April of last year finally are winding down. Marc Fairchild, vice president of claims at Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. in Carmel, said only 10 of the 4,330 claims his firm logged remain open. “It […]
