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Real estate firm Hines has sold its 60-story building in River North to KBS Realty Advisors LLC , a California-based investment firm.
Terms weren’t disclosed.
Hines, which developed the LEED-certified building in 2009, said it will continue to manage the property on 300 N. LaSalle St., which is home to various financial firms.
Officials from KBS weren’t immediately available for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal | In his first interview after agreeing to step down from the top spot at oil giant BP this week, Tony Hayward defended his choices during the oil spill crisis, saying he ” became a villain for doing the right thing.” Get the full story »
Several U.S. agencies are preparing a criminal probe of at least three companies involved in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, though it could take more than a year before any charges are filed, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
BP Plc, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. are the initial targets of the wide-ranging probe, which aims “to examine whether their cozy relations with federal regulators contributed to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico,” the newspaper said, citing law enforcement and other sources. Get the full story »
The state of Illinois is offering low-interest disaster recovery loans for residents and businesses in northern Illinois that suffered damage from last weekend’s severe storms.
On Monday, Gov. Pat Quinn declared 12 northern Illinois counties disaster areas, after heavy storms on Saturday led to major flooding and property damage to many buildings and homes. The declaration means residents and business owners are eligible for below-market interest rates through participating lenders that they can use to finance repairs.
As of Tuesday, loan rates would be no more than 3.5 percent, according to Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, whose office oversees the loan program. Get the full story »
CME Group Inc.’s Green Exchange LLC won regulatory approval as a designated contract market on Friday, adding a fourth regulated exchange to CME’s stable. Get the full story »
By dimming lights or lowering water temperature on a massive scale, the owners of some of Chicago’s signature skyscrapers are banking on new technology that would dramatically cut the city’s energy usage and save millions of dollars.
The technology is being bankrolled by an unusual source: The Republic of Korea, which, under a complex agreement to be signed today, has agreed to install energy-saving equipment in up to 14 Chicago buildings during the next few months. Korean officials have pledged to pay millions to Illinois colleges for research and development efforts related to “smart grid” technology. Get the full story »
A BP official is praising the successful attachment of a new sealing cap on the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. But he cautioned that the testing of the cap to begin Tuesday morning will determine whether the new effort can successfully shut down the well. Get the full story »
BP said Friday it is hooking up a third vessel to increase oil-capture capacity at the Gulf of Mexico spill to 53,000 barrels a day from 28,000 barrels a day.
BP spokesman Mark Proegler said that increased capture should start “in a couple of days.”
BP also said its current oil-capture systems at the leak collected or burned off 24,395 barrels of oil Thursday.
An experimental solar-powered plane completed its first 24-hour test flight successfully Thursday, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. The test brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.
Indiana regulators have given ArcelorMittal permission to dispose of more than 2 million tons of steel-making waste in a landfill at the company’s sprawling complex along Lake Michigan. The decision comes more than two years after ArcelorMittal requested a permit for the restricted waste landfill.
Broadwind Energy said its Tower Tech Inc. unit would supply structural wind towers to Spain’s Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica for installation in wind sites in the United States.
Tower Tech, which makes heavy wind towers, expects to deliver these towers to Gamesa’s U.S. unit Gamesa Technology Corp during the fourth quarter, the company said in a statement. Get the full story »
U.S. gasoline prices fell to the lowest level in three weeks due to lower crude oil costs, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
The national price for regular unleaded gasoline dropped 3.1 cents over the last week to $2.73 a gallon, the department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.
While drivers are still paying 11 cents more a gallon than a year ago, the pump price is down sharply from the record $4.11 reached two years ago. Get the full story »
The U.S. Department of Energy has extended a deadline to work out a deal to build the FutureGen coal power plant in eastern Illinois. The agency said Wednesday that an agreement that expired this week between it and the FutureGen Alliance to work out financial and other details has been extended by 60 days.
From CNN | BP’s stock price has fallen far enough for the oil company to become an attractive takeover target for its biggest rivals, according to industry analysts.
BP’s stock finished at $28.88 Wednesday, a plunge of more than 50% from its close of $60.09 on April 19, the day before its leased oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. On Thursday, shares were up more than 3%.
Fred Lucas of JPMorgan believes that investors have overdone it in dumping the stock, cheapening it to an attractive value for buyers – meaning potential parent companies, not just individual investors. Get the full story »
Greenpeace launched on Tuesday a Web site accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of a “lack of transparency” in labeling seafood.
Greenpeace said Costco markets itself as a supporter of sustainable seafood but sells 15 of the 22 seafood species listed “red,” or at risk of extinction, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Those species include Chilean sea bass and orange roughy. Get the full story »
