NYC investors spend millions to modernize Pyramids

-New York-based investors are pumping in millions of dollars and luring new tenants to restore luster to an Indianapolis landmark office building, the Pyramids at College Park on the Northwestside.

Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets, heads Sterling American Property Inc., which bought the three unique, 11-story, glass-and-concrete structures several months ago and has launched the renaissance of the 34-year-old complex.

Construction crews are currently renovating the dated lobbies, gutting the interiors to restore Class A office quality, reworking the heating and air-conditioning systems, renovating the 69 restrooms, repaving the 1,300 parking spaces and installing a conference center and caf.

Work begins soon to renovate the glass-and-suspension system forming the reflective southside wall of each of the buildings.

Real-estate brokers Darrin Boyd and David Moore of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, leasing agents for the Pyramids, said the investment is paying off with new tenants in the buildings, which recently had a vacancy rate of more than 50 percent.

An announcement is expected within two months from Education Management Corp., based in Pittsburgh, about plans to open a post-secondary school of the arts, culinary trades, and hospitality at the Pyramids.

Executives of the publicly traded company disclosed plans to open a school in Indianapolis during a May 5 conference call with analysts.

While the company declined to disclose the precise location, a permit from the Indiana Commission on Post-Secondary Education shows that Education Management will open the Art Institute of Indianapolis at 3500 DePauw Blvd., the address of the Pyramids.

The art school is to be based on three floors in two buildings, making the school the largest tenant in the complex's 443,000 gross square feet of space.

Sterling bought the buildings and 45 acres for an undisclosed price from an Alaskan government employees pension fund. "The architectural significance of the Pyramids had a lot to do with our decision to buy the property," said Matt Harvey, Sterling's asset manager.

Sterling specializes in buying and renovating undervalued properties. Harvey said the Pyramids' price cut to a fraction of its replacement cost, in part because the property needed a lot of updating even though renovations were done in the 1980s and early '90s. The occupancy rate fell after the loss of anchor tenants including Resort Condominiums International that took up most of the 100,000 square feet in Pyramid 3.

Undeterred, Harvey said, "These buildings were world-renowned, and we are fans of great architecture. It is a rare opportunity to own and renovate such buildings."

Even on an unclear day, the Pyramids' silhouette is visible for miles along the north leg of I-465 near Michigan Road on the city's Northwestside.

The buildings were treated like an eighth wonder of the world when they were constructed in 1971 by Indianapolis business leader John W. Burkhart to be the headquarters for his College Life Insurance Co. of America.

Ownership changed hands several times ending in a sheriff's sale in 1990, then a $3.6 million face-lift. College Life was sold, and the headquarters moved from the Pyramids.

The Pyramids, which were frequently photographed, featured on postcards and on television shows, had already become an icon of architecture in the Midwest.

While the complex's primary architect is pleased with its resurgence, he's not happy with all of the changes -- particularly not the lighted signs that now grace two of the buildings' once blank walls and advertise anchor tenants Indiana Tech and Bluegreen.

"I think it's a shame if they have to put signs on them," Kevin Roche said.

Roche said Burkhart's master plan envisioned up to nine identical pyramids, linked by third-floor walkways and underground tunnels and totaling over 1 million square feet. "John was interested in building an expandable headquarters," Roche said.

But there was never enough demand for the additional office space and the project stopped with three.

The inspiration for the pyramid shape was as much practical as aesthetic, he said. "The idea began with the hierarchical system in business at the time, putting large numbers of people on the lower levels and moving up to the (executive) levels at the top," he said.

The Pyramids is riding a wave of development along nearby Michigan Road that forms the western boundary of College Park.

Developers acknowledged the area dotted with about a dozen hotels and countless restaurants, fell on hard times. A three-year road-construction project hurt many businesses.

Real-estate brokers say several national restaurant chains including Cheeseburger in Paradise and others are now scouting locations in the Michigan Road corridor south of I-465.

A 93-acre site southwest of the interchange is for sale, and national-level developers are quietly proposing shopping centers and hotel complexes on the site.

Big-box retailers also have discovered the Michigan Road corridor. Costco opened a large store at 9010 Michigan Road three years ago.

And Mark Pearlstein of Linder Co., real-estate leasing agents, said negotiations are under way for redevelopment of a long-vacant Kmart.

"The area has been undergoing some changes, but the road construction is finally stable," he said.

Just north of the I-465 interchange, Indianapolis-based Duke has West Carmel Marketplace under construction at 9900 Michigan Road.

Duke vice president Cindy Schembre said the plans include about 400,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with the first shops to open before Christmas.

Employees at Pathfinders Corp., a continuing education provider in the insurance and securities industries, have enjoyed the view from the 11th floor of Pyramid 1 since 1979, making the company one of the longest-running tenants.

"Working in a landmark is wonderful," said Mac Spears, vice president of Pathfinders, while enjoying the view of the Downtown Indianapolis skyline from 10 miles away.

"Everybody told (John) Burkhart that he was nuts for building out here, because it was so far from (the other insurance company headquarters) Downtown. In fact, it was visionary."

THE PYRAMIDS AT COLLEGE PARK:

-- Location: 3500 DePauw Blvd. in the College Park area southeast of Michigan Road and I-465.

-- Owner: Sterling American Property Inc.

-- Height: Each of the three pyramid office buildings is 11 stories tall.

-- Size: The three buildings contain a total of 443,852 square feet including lobbies, halls and underground levels, passageways and loading docks.

-- Land: Building and 1,300 parking spaces on 16.99 acres; 24.9 acres of lake; 3.17 acres of woods; property totals about 45 acres.

-- History: Built in 1970-71 as the headquarters of College Life Insurance Co., the complex cost a reported $15 million.

"In the state and in Hampton Roads, the economy is still holding up pretty well," Mezger said.

Virginia's unemployment creeps up to 2.9 percent

Virginia's unemployment rate inched up in October to 2.9 percent, a 0.1 percentage-point increase over September, fueled in part by layoffs in the mortgage banking industry, state officials said Wednesday.

Hampton Roads' jobless rate climbed to 3.1 percent from 3.0 percent in September. It was 3.2 percent in October 2006.

The real estate sector in Hampton Roads experienced the worst decline of any job category, shedding 800 positions last month -- a drop of 4.6 percent -- according to the report by the Virginia Employment Commission. Those job losses are part of continued fallout from a nationwide housing decline and the subprime lending crunch.

William Mezger, the commission's chief economist, said many of those losses stemmed from rollbacks in seasonal employment related to short-term rental properties and maintenance -- jobs more prevalent during summer months.

Still, he said, those numbers likely include losses in residential home building, real estate sales and the mortgage industry.

At Virginia Beach-based Resource Bank, for example, employment has dropped from 325 to 150 employees after significant financial losses stemming from defaults on subprime mortgages.

The state also lost 8,900 leisure and hospitality industry jobs last month, as resorts, theme parks and other recreational sites scaled back fall operating levels.

Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate still bests the national rate of 4.4 percent, which fell slightly from 4.5 percent in September.

Despite the job losses, the state's nonfarm employment of 3.81 million last month was the second-highest on record. One reason the unemployment rate declined is that the state's labor pool rose by 7,700 workers in October, the report said.

Unemployment rates among metropolitan areas ranged from 5.4 percent in Danville to 2.2 percent in Northern Virginia.

Oklahoma City-Area Industrial Park to Unveil Expansion Plans Today

Details of expansion under way at Mid America Business Park will be revealed today by the Texas owner-developer.

The expansion includes a large warehouse-distribution center and a three-story, 58,000-square-foot office building, real estate sources say.

Local representatives of the industrial park, south of Interstate 240 between Sooner Road and Air Depot Boulevard, declined to give details before an announcement to be made today.

Dirt work is visible at the industrial park. A sign at what appears to be the warehouse site indicates that it is a build-to-suit project -- that is, a center for a specific tenant, rather than a speculative building.

Wichita, Kan.-based Key Construction has a construction trailer on site. Key Construction is proceeding in a joint venture with a Texas developer, a local source said.

Last July, owner Burk Collins, an Oklahoma native now based in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area, said he planned to spend $12 million to eventually quadruple the space at Mid America Business Park, which was started by W&V Properties in 1998.

Collins paid $13 million for the park last year. Most tenants have some connection to General Motors or Tinker Air Force Base. Collins said then he planned five more buildings.

Miami Beach, Fla., firm pays $15 million for Palm Beach County office property

The Forum, one of Palm Beach County's largest office properties, has been sold on the cheap for about $15 million.

Miami Beach-based GW Partners, headed by Bernard Werner and David Garfinkle, bought the three-building site for $54 a square foot from GE Capital Corp. GE acquired the complex in 1989 when it foreclosed on two loans worth more than $19 million.

Five years ago, when GE started marketing the 10-story buildings, real estate brokers predicted The Forum might fetch $30 million.

The 276,000-square-foot property at Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Congress Avenue in West Palm Beach has struggled in the past decade because tenants prefer more upscale suburban markets, such as Palm Beach Gardens, broker Jonathan Satter said.

The vacancy rate along Palm Beach Lakes is around 20 percent, among the highest in the county.

"This was one of the first office buildings not part of the central business district, and in the last 20 years there have been a plethora of suburban buildings built," West Palm Beach broker Hank Porcher said Wednesday.

Ocwen Financial Corp., which occupied most of The Forum before downsizing in recent years, said in June that it's pulling out entirely next spring and moving to a smaller site in West Palm. Even with Ocwen, a mortgage-services company, The Forum is only about 70 percent leased.

But Werner and Garfinkle expect to attract new tenants, mostly professional service firms, with quick deals featuring low-cost rental rates of $18 to $20 a square foot, including expenses.

"What David and Bernie saw here was an opportunity to capture a portion of the (office) market that was not being met," said Jonathan Kingsley, managing director at Grubb & Ellis, which is leasing The Forum for the new owners.

The partners also are planning a renovation of the complex built by developer Llwyd Ecclestone in the 1970s. Before Kingsley and Garfinkle bought The Forum several weeks ago, some real estate observers speculated it's time to raze the buildings and redevelop the site with a residential or retail project.

"It's never going to be the crown jewel it was," Jupiter broker Peter Reed said. "Newer buildings are so much more efficient, but it could serve as good back-office-support type of space."

Garfinkle has turned around distressed properties before, Kingsley said.

He bought, renovated and then sold New World Tower in downtown Miami and the International Building in Fort Lauderdale. Garfinkle also owns another Miami office building and is trying to boost leasing activity there.

New tower is planned for Walnut St.

Parkway Corp., the city's largest owner of parking garages and lots, plans to build an office, residential or hotel tower with up to 275,000 square feet of space atop an existing garage at 800 Walnut St.

Parkway president Robert Zuritsky said yesterday that low office-space vacancy rates in Center City had prompted him to test the market for the site, above the 700-car parking garage.

"It's starting to get good in town again with a lot of things -- including apartments and condos," he said. "And office space now, with the rents that are being quoted on the A buildings in town, you can start to justify a new office building."

Real estate brokers say the vacancy rate for Class A office space in the East Market Street district from Seventh to Broad Street was about 5.2 percent, compared with 15 percent two years ago.

The average price per square foot downtown is in the high $20s, but trophy buildings, such as One Liberty Place, the Comcast Center, and the Mellon Bank Center, can fetch up to $35 per square foot.

"The overall market downtown has tightened up," but the East Market Street area "has significantly tightened up," said Jim Egan, senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis Co., who is representing Parkway on the site. "Anytime it gets below 10 percent, that is considered a tight market."

Parkway is in a partnership with Urban Residential to develop a 30-story W Hotel and residences at the southwest corner of 12th and Arch Streets, where ground is expected to be broken this fall. It also is building 1706 Rittenhouse, a 32-story condominium, in a joint venture with developer Tom Scannapieco.

Zuritsky said the Walnut Street site, located on the PATCO line and in proximity to restaurants and retail shops, was ideal for any one of the possible uses.

Parkway entered into the Eighth and Walnut project in 1984. The original master plan included a single parking garage that could support two towers.

Zuritsky said his former partner, Historic Landmarks for Living, pulled out of its plans to develop the twin towers.

Parkway spent years developing a 70,000-square-foot office building on one end of the garage. In 2002, Wills Eye Medical Center acquired the air rights above that building and built a mid-rise tower on its roof.

Now Parkway wants to build its long-awaited second tower. "An office tower would be my first choice," Zuritsky said of his vision for Eighth and Walnut, "but we are putting this out so it is available to developers to partner with us with whatever else is out there."

Zuritsky said there had been discussions in the past with developers to build a hotel there, "but they only wanted to build 100 to 120 units, and that was not enough."

He said the site could accommodate a structure as high as 25 additional stories on top of the six-story garage.

"That's what it was designed for," he said.

Experts say several factors have contributed to Center City's low office-vacancy rate. Among them was that Comcast Corp. itself absorbed most of the space in the Comcast Center -- more than 1 million square feet -- and the center did not get Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone status, in which businesses are exempted from certain city and state taxes for 15 years.

"Other office buildings didn't become disadvantaged by the availability of that block of space being tax-free," said Dave Campoli, vice president of the Philadelphia-based Northeast Central Region for HRPT Properties Trust, of Newton, Mass. HRPT owns 5 million square feet of Class A commercial office space in a number of downtown buildings, including Center Square, the Mellon Bank Center, the PNC Bank Center and GlaxoSmithKline. "It kept us all in a level playing field."

Andrew Liverman, a research associate at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who specializes in commercial real estate, said there also had been a lot of organic growth among existing city office tenants, particularly with health organizations, such as the University of Pennsylvania, which is seeking to move administrative offices off-campus.

A 2006 report by Grubb & Ellis cited 20 percent growth among existing tenants in Center City.

"Philly is recognized as having one of the strongest life-science markets in the country, and the ripple effects are also seen in the commercial business district in the downtown market," Liverman said. "Definitely, we are seeing across-the-board growth in industries, and new tenants, like financial groups, are opening offices here that weren't here before."

Added Campoli: "There has really been no flight to the suburbs. Employers in the past went where they opted to go, and now employers are following the employees, who want to be in the city."

Hands-On Mobile Climbs the Property Ladder with Launch of Monopoly Tycoon 2007

Hands-On Mobile, a leading global publisher of mobile lifestyle, games and personalisation products, announced today the launch of Monopoly Tycoon 2007, the much anticipated sequel to Hands-On Mobile's blockbuster, Monopoly Tycoon, both under license from HPG, the licensing arm of Hasbro.

Monopoly Tycoon 2007, based upon the best-selling Atari PC title, is an economic strategy game about building real estate empires. Much like Hasbro's classic Monopoly board game, the world's most popular game, Monopoly Tycoon 2007 is easy to learn but hard to master and will appeal to both casual gamers and those who enjoy strategy-based games. Monopoly Tycoon 2007 features many significant improvements over its predecessor. New features include:

* Players can now employ managers to help with the day-to-day running of the properties.
* New graphics bring a living, breathing city to life with bustling pedestrians and realistic moving traffic.
* In addition to the classic utilities, Monopoly Tycoon 2007 enables players to take control of other exciting businesses such as grocery stores, bars and restaurants.
* New Community Chest and Chance cards add the feel of playing the Monopoly board game.

"We've enjoyed working with Atari in developing Monopoly Tycoon 2007, which represents a real improvement over the previous version," said Jonathan Sacks, CEO, Hands-On Mobile. "We're really excited about this launch and anticipate great success for the game following on from the popularity of Atari's original PC version and, of course, the iconic board game."

For more information, please visit, www.HandsOn.com

Click on the link to view images. High resolution screenshots available upon request.

http://www.ccnmatthews.com/docs/MonopolyTycoon2007.jpg

About Hands-On Mobile, Inc.

Hands-On Mobile is a leading global publisher of mobile lifestyle, games and personalisation products targeting all market segments of the mobile handset marketplace. With operations in four continents, Hands-On Mobile develops, publishes and distributes mobile content to more than 150 of the world's leading operators in 40 countries.

About Atari

New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as DRIVER(tm), The Matrix(tm), Stuntman(tm) and Test Drive?, and mass-market and children's franchises such as Backyard Sports(tm), Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(tm) and Dora the Explorer(tm), and Dragon Ball Z?. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe.For more information, visit www.atari.com.

About HPG

HPG, the licensing arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), translates one of the industry's richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally.Through a host of publishing, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro's core brands, such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY, G.I. JOE, TONKA and PLAYSKOOL, beyond the toy and game aisle, creating rich lifestyle experiences.

Montgomery Ward Store May Come to Arlington, Texas, Mall

Three years after the loss of anchor J.C. Penney dealt a heavy blow to Six Flags Mall, the mall's owners say they are close to signing a new tenant for the former Penney's building. Real estate and retail sources have said that Montgomery Ward & Co. has been negotiating to lease the 150,000-square-foot space, which Penney sold to the mall's owners. Six Flag's owners said yesterday that they are under a confidentiality agreement and can't say who the tenant will be. "I can't discuss who it is," said Tom Morris, who said he represents Six Flags Mall LP, which bought the mall in 1999. "The final terms and conditions of the lease are being negotiated and I think within two weeks the lease should be signed." Yesterday, Ward's spokesman Chuck Knittle said only, "We have made no decisions to lease any new stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area." Ward has a store several miles south of Six Flags Mall at Festival Discount Mall. Getting a Montgomery Ward outlet would be a coup for Six Flags, which like Festival is older and has been struggling against intense competition from newer, more upscale malls and shopping centers. Festival general manager Bob Cesare said he also has heard that Ward will open a store at Six Flags. Montgomery Ward is a main traffic driver for Festival, and the mall doesn't want to lose it to a mall near enough to be a competitor, he said. "We have a great relationship with Montgomery Ward's." Ward, whose Festival store has 155,000 square feet, asked Festival about leasing as much as 30,000 square feet for a pilot project, a clearance center, in addition to its anchor store. Cesare said Festival's owners told Ward the space wasn't available but asked Ward to consider converting its Festival location into a clearance center. Dillard operates its only area Dillard's Clearance Center at Festival Mall. Morris said that in addition to finding a tenant for the Penney's building, Six Flags Mall has other deals in the works. A longtime tenant, the Gym, is moving from next to Sears to several buildings nearby that were occupied by a movie theater and a restaurant. Morris said a Dallas development group is converting the Gym's space into a 12,000-square-foot women's day spa, Salons of Six Flags. Morris said Six Flags also plans an 18,000-square-foot food court within the mall with space for 10 tenants. The mall has three food court tenants.

Starbucks Coffee Shop Will Not Settle in Glenview, Calif.

Three years ago, Glenview residents won a major brawl with America's number one coffee chain, Starbucks. Their vehemence against seeing the Seattle-based roasters open up in their neighborhood eventually led them to City Hall, where the chain decided to withdraw its application to avoid bad publicity.

Looking to fill a vacancy in their Park Boulevard building, real estate brokers Steve and John Moyers found themselves trapped in the middle.

To this day, the two brothers have yet to find a tenant who will be a viable merchant in the space.

And the Moyers are bracing for another backlash. Although Steve Moyers is adamant there is no deal to bring in another coffee chain, word is spreading throughout the neighborhood that Tully's Coffee, another Seattle-based coffee company, is eyeing the spot.

In the last three years, a golf club store and a holistic healing center have moved in and quickly moved out. Moyers said the merchant that will eventually sign a lease will probably be a hair salon or barber shop owner.

"People should not get all worried and they should not anticipate great things because they are opposed to most of the things that would work in that space," he said. "Everybody in Glenview seems to be happy that instead of a Starbucks or Tully's, who would be viable tenants, we get startups and mom and pops who give it their best effort and fail."

With great fanfare and a sizable donation to a local charity, Tully's Coffee opened its first East Bay store this past May in downtown Oakland. Located at the corner of 14th Street and Broadway, with BART patrons coming and going mere feet from the front door, the coffee store is thriving.

"Sales are increasing each day at the Oakland site," said James Chittenden, regional manager of California retail operations. "We are real pleased with the location."

And the company is looking to expand its base in the East Bay in the next six months. But where those new stores will open remains unclear. Company officials contacted for this story either did not return phone calls or would not reveal specific locations.

"We are looking at locations in Oakland, but I am not certain about where or how many locations," said Judy Wolf, with the company's real estate office in Seattle.

Founded by Tom O'Keefe in 1992, Tully's has grown into the third-largest specialty coffee retailer in the U.S. It has 104 locations throughout the world, mainly in Washington, Idaho, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Sweden.

The company already has a foothold in San Francisco due to its purchasing the Spinelli Coffee company in 1998. It has numerous stores there and is the official coffee sponsor of the San Francisco Giants.

"I don't know too much about them except they are on the move," said Richard Campbell, owner of Ultimate Grounds, whose store is across the street from the vacant storefront. Ultimate Grounds became a central player in the fight against Starbucks. While customers waited for cappuccinos and lattes, they also signed a petition against Starbucks kept at the coffee shop's counter.

"Do I want competition across the street from a chain? No. But with Starbucks, because of its tremendous presence, you don't go there for coffee. You go there for Starbucks," he said. "But I don't know about Tully's."

To date, there is no pending deal to bring Tully's into the space, said Steve Moyers. "They never looked at the space so I doubt they are interested in it," he said. "Tully's Coffee would be great, but frankly, I doubt we want to fight the battle."

The vacant space probably will never house a coffee store or small food vendor, said Moyers. Since the skirmish over Starbucks, he said 10 other such merchants have looked at the space but have all fled after learning about the fight. "Any food user would have to go through a highly politicized permit process. We have had a procession of great, quality food users over the years, names of companies people would love to have in there, and they look at the space and then they see what Starbucks went through and they don't pursue it," said Moyers.

Two and a half years ago, San Francisco coffee purveyor Torre Fiziano Italia gave the Moyers a letter of intent for the space, then walked away, and Seattle Coffee Works looked twice at the store but backed off from pursuing the needed permits.

"The Glenview powers that be have created the impression to any coffee or food retailer it is not worth the fight to come in and pursue it," he said. Merchants and neighbors argue parking is so scarce in the area that any high-traffic store would be a detriment, not a value, to the area. "We are dealing here with a very serious finite parking situation, so more business here with such terribly limited parking means everybody is going to have to give up a little bit," said Campbell. "It is just not the kind of neighborhood which can handle more traffic."

If Tully's does try to move into the area, it is unknown if it would face the same number of residents against it as Starbucks did. "Whether Tully's will have the same kind of reaction I don't know," said Michael Gabriel, Glenview Neighborhood Association president. "I am not familiar with Tully's."

Since 1997, when Starbucks wanted to move in, the Glenview district has seen the same changes in its residents as the rest of the city. With more dot.com workers settling in the area, the Starbucks opponents are unsure if the same sentiments would surround Tully's.

"There were a lot people in the neighborhood who were really concerned about chains. But a lot of those feelings have moved on," said Campbell. "I don't think we will see the same vehemence as we did against Starbucks."

PolyMet purchases LTV facilities as mine plan begins to take shape

The state's first base and precious metals mine is a big step closer to reality.

PolyMet Mining Corp. on Tuesday finalized a deal with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. under which PolyMet will take over ownership of portions of the former LTV Steel Mining Co. processing facilities near Hoyt Lakes.

The agreement means PolyMet now owns crushing, milling and flotation assets as well as buildings, real estate, spare parts, workshops and a 3,000-acre tailings basin at the site.

"Acquisition of this large complex provides PolyMet with about 80-85 percent of the physical plant assets needed to develop the NorthMet project," William Murray, PolyMet president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.

Using the former LTV facilities as opposed to new construction would savePolyMet about $200 million, Murray said.

It's been estimated that developing a base and precious metals mine about 12 miles south of Babbitt, along with additional processing facilities at the former taconite plant, would cost $225 million to $250 million.

Cleveland-Cliffs, which owned the property that PolyMet will use, will receive about 6.2 million shares of PolyMet.

PolyMet is still working on permitting the project, but company leaders hope to have commercial operations running in the first half of 2008.

A well-defined deposit east of the former taconite plant contains nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, palladium and platinum. The deposit contains an estimated 800 million tons of ore.

Constructing the plant and mine would employ 1,000 workers. About 400 permanent workers would be needed to operate the mine and plant.

Exploration for metals in Northeastern Minnesota has been ongoing for decades. However, until recently, developers haven't come up with cost-effective methods of extracting the low amounts of metals from the ore.

PolyMet leaders say the company has developed and tested a patented environmentally friendly hydrometallurgical process. To date, the company hasn't asked for any public assistance in financing the project.

PolyMet is a publicly traded Canadian mine development company.

Refurbishing the LTV processing facilities and opening a new mine would be a significant boost to the economy and help stabilize declining enrollment in some Iron Range schools.

LTV Steel Mining Co. closed in 2001 after its parent company, LTV Steel Corp., filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The shutdown put 1,400 people out of work.

PolyMet is a publicly traded Canadian mine development company.

Refurbishing the LTV processing facilities and opening a new mine would be a significant boost to the economy and help stabilize declining enrollment in some Iron Range schools.

LTV Steel Mining Co. closed in 2001 after its parent company, LTV Steel Corp., filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The shutdown put 1,400 people out of work.

Rural Westfield? Not for long

Country fried steak and mashed potatoes are the luncheon special at the Roadside Cafe in tiny Eagletown, where the hot topic is the wave of development sweeping the area.

At least 4,000 new homes and enough retail space to rival Castleton Square and Clay Terrace malls combined could start going up within the next year or two in this rural corner of Hamilton County. Over the next 10 to 20 years, the area -- some of which was recently annexed into Westfield -- is poised to be one of the hot growth spots in Indiana's fastest-growing county.

Ackerson Farm is the most ambitious of the projects announced. Proposed by the family that has owned the namesake farm for 100 years, it would be a 1900s-themed, master-planned community with a mix of 1,125 houses, townhouses, condos and apartments and up to 1.5 million square feet of retailing, restaurants, office and business buildings.

Real estate insiders say other developers are acquiring more land across Ind. 32 from Ackerson Farm for another 2,000 homes and shopping.

"It's quite a happening little place," said Westfield Town Council President Paul J. Smith. "Along with Bridgewater (nearly 1,000 home sites) and the other new home developments, it's really putting Westfield on the map."

But not everyone is happy about the wave of development coming.

Ackerson Farm will be across the highway from the homey Roadside Cafe, where owner Maggie Achenbach says, "We've got enough development in Hamilton County. What are we going to do when we don't have any more trees? I used to live in the city and tried moving north to get away."

In other moments, though, she seems reconciled to the overwhelming changes on the horizon. "You can't stop progress," she said, "but it could bum me out."

"We're really excited that Ackerson Farm is setting the bar for development very high," said Kevin C. Buchheit, community development director for Westfield.

"It is a neo-traditional step back in time that looks at the mixed uses that would have been in a community, sometimes homes and businesses in the same buildings. There is a more human, rather than automobile, scale to these plans."

He ticked off a list of several other proposed subdivisions that are adding hundreds, maybe thousands, of new homes to the western side of town.

Construction, for example, starts this summer on a subdivision of $1 million-plus homes in the 330-acre Viking Meadows, the picturesque horse farm of Howard Peterson, father of Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.

The Ackerson shopping centers and business buildings would be along more than a mile of frontage on Ind. 32 and Eagletown Road.

Designers said Ackerson Farm attempts to capture the flavor of Eagletown, had it survived the Great Depression.

A Westfield committee has been studying a long-term plan to save, reproduce or enhance the small villages of Eagletown, Jolietville, Lamong and Hortonville.

Buchheit said the vision is to make them revitalized "nodes" of village-style community life, linked by miles of the new Monon and Midland trails for hiking, biking and horse riding.

"Imagine the lifestyle. You could wake up on a Saturday morning in your second-floor townhome above a cafe along a main street. Go downstairs for breakfast and then bike on a trail to a boarding stable to get your horse for a ride. At the end of a busy day, you've never needed your car," Buchheit said.

Adjacent to Ackerson is Westgate, a 700-home development proposed by Drees Homes. Land manager John Talbot said the 258-acre Westgate will be an eclectic mix of homes, "kind of like Broad Ripple and the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood" that also had their roots in the 1900s.

And Davis Homes is proposing another subdivision on 80 acres adjacent to Ackerson.

"Take all three together -- Ackerson, Drees and Davis -- and we've got a square mile under development adjacent to Eagletown between Ditch and Towne roads, north of 166th Street," Buchheit said.

The rapid growth in Hamilton County is hardly news. Eight of the 15 largest subdivisions proposed or in progress in the Indianapolis metro area are in Hamilton County. The development boom poised to happen on the western edge of Westfield, however, is farther north and west than previous projects.

Residents are hoping the new development will blend the best of the old with the new.

Paul Albrecht, pastor of The Journey Church on Eagletown Road near Westfield, said the American Baptist congregation bought a 125-year-old Quaker building and remodeled it exactly because the location is in the path of home development.

"It would be nice for Eagletown to keep its charm, kind of the same way that we didn't change the white frame country church, but we modernized it," he said.

Westfield town planners have worried about the same things.

A committee has been writing a comprehensive plan for Westfield that would respect the historic crossroads communities.

Eagletown is in a key location. There are plans to widen Ind. 32 to four lanes to form a westside gateway into Westfield through Eagletown.

The Midland Trail, an east-west walking and biking path to be developed in the area, would pass through Ackerson Farm, linking to the Monon Trail, which would let people go on to the center of Indianapolis.

Planners also want a nature preserve along Eagle Creek.

Nels Ackerson and his sister Karen Ackerson Jamesen understand the little Eagletown village that once thrived in the area because they grew up on the family farm that is now the center of development.

"Our grandparents were immigrants from Sweden. Our grandfather worked as a hired hand. They saved their money until they could buy the farm in 1905. I can hardly imagine the tremendous pride they had to know they were a part of the American dream," Nels Ackerson said.

In the early 20th century, Eagletown had churches, a school, a post office, a blacksmith's shop and a brick factory. The architecture of the homes reflected the tastes and backgrounds of the European immigrants.

Then the Great Depression descended, and Eagletown withered.

Nels Ackerson, 61, is now a lawyer based in Washington, D.C. And Jamesen, 66, retired recently as a professor at Purdue University. They've leased their Eagletown fields to a local farmer.

"It's just not financially viable to have small, 200-acre farms anymore, so we decided the time has come to consider other options," he said.

Family members plan to develop the property themselves during the next 10 to 20 years. The Ackersons have hired Broad Ripple-based Weaver Design Group to help draw up a modern version of the old Indiana village.

Weaver drew the designs for the Village of WestClay, another early 1900s-styled development with very upscale homes that has been growing for five years in Carmel.

"We also looked at many other traditional neighborhood developments" popular in other parts of the country, Ackerson said.

But the development will be much different from the Eagletown of old. The plan for the 236 acres of Ackerson Farm includes more than a mile of commercial development along the east-west Ind. 32 and the north-south Eagletown Road.

"I don't see it as a place for Super Wal-Mart, but there could be large department stores," Nels Ackerson said.

The homes, though, would be a mixture of multistory townhouses, apartments and various house styles, like a city of 100 years ago.

Most of the lots would be narrow -- as they used to be in small cities and towns -- ranging from 45 to 60 feet wide.

Lots near the edges of the development would be larger so they blend with the neighboring estate homes and horse farms.

A large park would be at the heart of the development. About 23 percent of the residential area is open space. There also would be a neighborhood center with a few small businesses, such as an ice cream shop and a dry cleaner, to cater to residents.

And in the Village Center district, the Midland Trail would cross through a business plaza of green space surrounded by two-and three-story live-work buildings with shops on the ground floor and apartments or offices on upper floors. A large, columned civic building or church would dominate the center.

"Part of the reminiscing about growing up is to say that we want to save our heritage. We should renew the sense of neighborhood, when the community had common meeting places and people shared common interests," Ackerson said.

"But, of course, that has to be adapted with today's wireless technology."

ACKERSON FARM

The 236-acre family farm, begun in 1905, is at Eagletown Road and Ind. 32 on the west side of Westfield. Here's a quick look at plans:

--Size: Nels Ackerson and his sister Karen Ackerson Jamesen filed plans with the town for development of 1,125 houses and townhouses and up to 1.5 million square feet of restaurants, retailing and other businesses.

--Themes: Re-create tiny turn-of-the-century Eagletown as if it had flourished, with parks, hiking and biking trails, and an old-style town center. Two-story buildings in the center would have shops on the ground floor and apartments upstairs.

--Architecture: Borrowed from old Indiana towns and European villages where area immigrants came from.

ABOUT WESTFIELD

--History: Founded in 1834 by Quakers. Several homes were part of the Underground Railroad, a mid-1800s network that helped hide runaway slaves as they made their way to freedom.

--Population: 9,293.

--Racial breakdown: White: 93.6 percent; Black: 1 percent; Hispanic: 3.8 percent.

--Median age: 30.2.

--College degree: 35.6 percent.

--Median household income (1999): $52,963.

--Median home value: $133,100.

Sources: http://westfieldtown.org/; 2000 census

Compiled by The Star's Library

BIG DEVELOPMENTS, PROPOSED OR IN PROGRESS

Here's a list of the largest subdivisions under construction or planning and zoning review in the metro area. Information is from local governments and from MarketGraphics, a consultant to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis:

1. Anson, up to 2,400 units plus commercial and industrial sites, I-65 and Ind. 334 west of Zionsville. Status: Preliminary construction begins this year.

2. Summer Lake, Rafert Farms and Hamptons, total of 2,280 units in three adjacent developments, near Exit 13 of I-69, Madison County. Status: Summer Lake homes are under construction; the others are completing planning review.

3. Heartland Crossing, about 2,150 lots, Ind. 67 north of Mooresville. Status: Since construction began in 1998, about 1,900 homes have been built.

4. Gramercy, estimated 2,000 units, 126th Street and Keystone Avenue, Carmel. Status: Under review by the Carmel Plan Commission.

5. Southern Dunes, 1,926 lots, Ind. 37, south side of Indianapolis. Status: Golf course open, homes partially built.

6. Winding Ridge, 1,888 lots, near 56th Street and Pendleton Pike, Lawrence Township. Status: More than half the houses are built.

7. Maple Knoll, 1,825 lots, 161st Street, Westfield. Status: Construction of commercial buildings continues this year. About 1,000 lots are platted, and 300 homes have been built.

8. Britton Falls and Del Webb community, 1,822 lots, 136th Street and Cyntheanne Road, Fishers. Status: Model homes to open later this year.

9. Noble West, 1,498 lots, 146th Street and Hazel Dell Parkway, Noblesville. Status: Home and commercial construction are under way.

10. Countryside, 1,330 lots, 161st Street and Oak Ridge, Westfield. Status: About 1,000 homes built.

11. Saxony, up to 1,325 units, 131st Street and Olio Road, Fishers. Status: Fewer than one-third built.

12. Avalon, up to 1,250 lots, northeast corner of 126th Street and Olio Road, Fishers. Status: About 25 percent built.

13. The Settlement, 1,165 lots, Smith Road north of U.S. 40, Plainfield. Status: New model homes are open.

14. Walker Farms, 1,136 lots, Ind. 334 at I-65, Whitestown. Status: About half constructed.

15. Ackerson Farm, proposed 1,125 units, Ind. 32, west side of Westfield. Status: Town Council hearing Monday.

PolyMet makes $23 million land, equipment deal

A $23 million deal that would pave the way for development of the state's first commercial base and precious metals mine has been struck between PolyMet Mining Corp. and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Under an agreement announced today, PolyMet Mining Corp. would acquire a 120-car rail fleet, locomotive fueling and maintenance facilities, water rights, pipelines, administrative offices and 6,000 acres of property near a tailings basin at the former LTV Steel Mining Co. taconite plant near Hoyt Lakes.

Vancouver, B.C-based PolyMet plans to be operating a base and precious metals mine near the former taconite plant by late 2008.

"This is another positive and major step forward for PolyMet and for Northeastern Minnesota," said Warren Hudelson, Polymet spokesman. "Acquisition of these assets will give us even more control of our costs."

The $235 million to $250 million project would include an open-pit mine about 12 miles south of Babbitt and a processing facility at the former taconite plant.

It would produce copper, nickel, cobalt, silver, palladium and platinum.

The facility would create about 1,000 construction jobs at least 400 permanent jobs.

It's the second major deal involving the property between Cleveland-Cliffs and PolyMet, and adds to Cliffs' ownership share in the project.

In 2005, PolyMet and Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to a deal under which PolyMet acquired crushing, milling, and flotation assets along with buildings, real estate, spare parts, workshops and a 3,000-acre tailings basin at the former taconite plant.

Under the newest deal, a letter of intent signed between the companies would provide PolyMet with even more physical assets, all which could be used to develop the metals mine.

Included is the former LTV Steel Mining Co. administration building, water rights from a pumping station at nearby Colby Lake, water pipelines, land adjacent to the existing tailings basin, and a fleet of rail cars. Locomotives that PolyMet would require would be leased.

"This finalizes the hard physical assets that will be required for mining operations," said Hudelson. "We're running flat-out on all fronts to execute this project."

Cleveland-Cliffs sheds itself of some liabilities at the former taconite plant and benefits financially from the deal.

Cliffs receives 2 million shares of PolyMet stock at $4 per share; $1 million in cash upon closure of the deal; $7 million in cash payable in $250,000 quarterly installments beginning Dec. 31, 2006; and $7 million in cash payable in quarterly installments beginning Dec. 31, 2009.

Following board and regulatory approval, Cleveland-Cliffs would own 9.2 million shares of PolyMet stock, or 7.8 percent of the company.

"These assets will give us even greater control over our operations at NorthMet by reducing our dependence on third-party providers of services and facilities," said William Murray, PolyMet president and chief executive officer. "The land acquisition will enable us to optimize our operations around the plant facility."

Within a few weeks, a bankable feasibility study on the project is expected to be complete.

That would allow the publicly traded company to pursue commercial financing.

A draft environmental impact statement is scheduled for completion in late fall or early winter. A final EIS could be complete by spring.

Public comment periods and public meetings would be held during the environmental review process.

Estimates are that the proposed mine site contains about 800 million tons of ore.

Additional test drilling aimed at further defining the reserve could occur this winter, said Hudelson.

Processing technology that utilizes an enclosed pressure autoclave would be used.

However, environmental groups have raised concerns about potential sulfides runoff from waste rock piles. PolyMet officials say the company would take all necessary steps to protect the environment.

Haven Sites Attract Interest

The potential sale of Haven Healthcare's 25 New England nursing homes is drawing interest from some out-of-state private equity firms, with local providers not expected to make a bid for the troubled chain, state and industry officials said.

"The one thing we are fairly sure of is that all 25 homes will be sold. Whether to one entity or several entities remains to be seen," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "The outcome will depend on who bids and what those bids are."

Blumenthal said that a half-dozen corporate entities have expressed an interest in taking over Haven's homes -- 15 of them in Connecticut -- when the chain goes on the auction block this spring, under a bankruptcy court plan. He said he could not disclose the interested parties because that might discourage potential buyers. But some nursing-home operators and advocates say private equity firms are the most likely suitors, given that locally based chains have little interest in a major expansion.

"There is presently no indication that any Connecticut provider would be interested in taking on 15 homes," said Toni Fatone, executive vice president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities. "The most likely scenario, given that this is a 25-building real estate entity, is that it will be a big financial entity that will underwrite this sale."

The state's largest nursing-home operators have not expressed interest in acquiring the Haven chain, although the owner of one company said he might consider taking over a few Haven homes if the chain is divvied up.

Lawrence Santilli, president of Athena Health Care Systems, which operates 18 nursing homes in Connecticut, said he would consider taking over "four or five homes" -- particularly the Haven homes that do not have union workers -- and is waiting to review financial documents on Haven that will be provided to prospective buyers.

Santilli said that for local operators, buying the entire chain would be "a lot to take on. ... I'd like to see [the homes] split up. It makes sense not to have all of them with one company."

Officials of Apple Health Care, another large chain, declined to comment on Haven, but have not expressed an interest to state officials about acquiring the chain.

Haven was a lucrative venture for its CEO, Raymond Termini, who used millions of dollars in assets from the chain to launch a Nashville recording company and make other personal purchases. But in recent years, some of the chain's homes have drawn state scrutiny and sanctions for serious lapses in patient care, and some are in need of major renovations -- potential disincentives to buyers.

Nursing-home purchases by private equity firms have become increasingly commonplace, but have stirred controversy. The investment groups often have a complex ownership structure that makes oversight difficult, and some studies suggest that such ownership leads to lower-quality care. Some industry officials dispute that there are drawbacks.

Last year, Genesis HealthCare, which owns nine nursing homes in Connecticut, was bought out by a private equity firm, Formation Capital. Formation is among the firms that may be looking at expanding further in Connecticut, nursing-home advocates said. State lawmakers are proposing legislation that would require more detailed financial reporting by nursing-home owners, and more oversight by the state, to head off the kinds of problems that led to Haven's financial collapse.

Haven Healthcare and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in November in the wake of a Courant series that detailed the chain's citations for health care deficiencies and spiraling financial problems. Haven's attorneys have outlined a plan that calls for the homes to be offered for sale this spring, with real estate closings tentatively planned for June.

A spokesman for the state Department of Social Services said it would be premature for the agency to speculate about what might happen to the Connecticut homes. If the bankruptcy court authorizes a sale, "we would be reviewing bed need and potential buyers and will make Medicaid rate decisions, balancing resident care, bed need and financial considerations," spokesman David Dearborn said.

State officials said it was too early to discuss whether any Haven homes might close if buyers cannot be found. Dearborn said social services officials have been "looking at bed need, in general," in anticipation of a possible sale.

Fatone said that based on statewide occupancy rates and a recent study of the state's long-term-care needs, "I don't anticipate that [state officials] will see a need to close any of the buildings."

After The Courant reported on Haven's patient-care and financial troubles, the state stepped up its monitoring of Haven homes and halted admissions to one home, in Waterford. Admissions to Waterford remain suspended, and an independent ombudsman, appointed by the bankruptcy trustee, has been monitoring care in all 25 homes.

In a recent report to the bankruptcy court, the ombudsman, Brent Martin, said his team found no serious lapses in care at the Haven facilities during an initial review.

"The baseline assessment of each of the 25 Haven Health Centers disclosed a number of situations that are noteworthy," the report says. "None of the circumstances were believed to place any resident(s) in imminent jeopardy."

The report cites as concerns a "considerable turnover" in management at Haven facilities, as well as a reliance on outside-agency nursing staff in some homes. Temperatures in one home were "uncomfortable and cold," and many facilities were found to be in need of "updating and renovations for both resident safety and comfort," according to the report.

At Haven-Soundview in West Haven, staff members reported a shortage of some supplies, including gloves and diapers, the report says. At Haven's Windham home, rooms were found to be "cluttered with boxes," and litter was observed "on the floor of many resident rooms and the hallways." At other facilities, no significant problems were reported, and staff members said conditions had improved since the state stepped up oversight.