Briefs
Shriners
Shriners International recently voted against closing any of its 22 Shriners Hospitals, including the one in Greenville, S.C. The Greenville hospital first opened in 1927. However, in the second week of July at the national convention in San Antonio, a threat to close six hospitals, including Greenville, was lingering.
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Devine Street's Abacus is a fee- only financial planning and investment counsel firm managing over $450,000,000 for 162 clients, including many physicians. It is a member of the National Association of Preferred Financial Advisors (NAPFA), The MD Preferred Financial Advisor Network connects with NAPFA to provide 831,000 physicians access to fee- only financial advisors who act strictly in a fiduciary capacity. Medical doctors can go to www.mdpreferredfinancialadvisor.com.
Homes sales don't head South
According to the National Associations of Realtors, its Pending Home Sales Index, a forward indicator based on May contracts, increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 in April, which is 6.7 percent higher than in May 2008 when it was 85. In the South, the Pending Home Sales Index declined 1.7 percent to 92.6 in May, which was 7.9 percent higher than one year ago.
VA on the move
More than a month ago, about 400 workers of the Department of Veterans Affairs moved from their building on the northwest corner of Assembly and Laurel to their new $20 million 116,000- square- foot, three- story structure near the Dorn VA Medical Center on the Sumter Highway. One big advantage for the 421,000 veterans living in S.C. is the one- trip feature to follow up on both medical and benefit issues. The future of the 1951 VA Building at 1801 Assembly is in doubt, but the building is still partially used for VA purposes.
Don't you know Kokomo?
Kokomo, Ind. had an unemployment rate of 18.8 percent in May, which was an 11.7 percentage points jump up from a year ago, the largest increase among the country's 372 metropolitan areas.
Atlanta garage fails, albeit a typical structure
Built with precast concrete double- Ts, just like almost a majority of the garages in the country, Atlanta's eight- year- old Centergy Parking Deck failed on Monday, June 29, when the fourth floor fell through the third floor, forcing a failure of the second floor, falling down to the first floor. Destroyed or damaged were 38 vehicles, but no one was hurt. Greenville- based Metromont, the concrete double- T fabrication operator, claimed the deck's design was no less safe than any other with the same technology. In other words not spoken by Metromont, this could happen again.
Where the rubber meets the road
Columbia ranks 6th in the country among large metropolitan areas in the rate of new AIDS cases. Concerning the same problem statewide, S.C. ranks 9th among the 50 states. The most dangerous age group, the people carrying the statistics to new heights, is the 20- 29- year- old crowd. The Central Carolina Community Foundation is leading a new community partnership to provide grants for HIV/AIDS prevention education. Go to www.yourfoundation.org for further information.
Money back
The S.C. Treasurer's Office reported recently a seven- year (FY 2003 to 2009) payout of more than $12 million in unclaimed property to its rightful owners. To look into the possibility of a claim, go to www.treasurer.sc.gov.
Good time to cut a lease deal for the long term
According to Colliers Keenan commercial real estate company, during the first six months of 2009, Columbia's Class A market in office space experienced 92,893 square feet of negative absorption plus an additional 43,210 square feet of sublease space. Asking rental rates moved from $19.18 per square foot to $18.97 in the past year. By mid- 2010 when Holder Properties' Main and Gervais Building is newly occupied by downtown's relocating firms NBSC, Edens & Avant, and The McNair Law Firm, and when SCANA moves out at Palmetto Center, Columbia's downtown office market should suffer an office occupancy rate of just over 73%, all which means golden opportunities for any firm looking to relocate downtown.
Get ready
A major work by Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, will be installed and ready for its unveiling at the Columbia Museum of Art's annual black- tie gala on Saturday night, April 17, at 7 pm. Admission is to members only at $150 per person. Don't complain - New York's Four Season's Restaurant in Park Avenue's Seagram Building, where JFK and Ms. Monroe had his birthday dinner, is having a 50th anniversary dinner next week at $500 per person, and they're not unveiling anything.
