Central Indiana home sales improved slightly in 2011
Closed sales last year inched up 1.2 percent in 13 area counties and jumped 18.3 percent from July through December, bolstered by a 7.2-percent increase during the last month of 2011.
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Broadbent sells part of Fashion Mall Commons
The 86,634-square-foot building that houses a Kohl’s department store fetched $15.3 million, or about $177 per square foot, according to a CoStar Group report.
Deceased HHGregg chairman oversaw explosive growth
Jerry Throgmartin helped transform HHGregg from a local electronics retailer into a national player with more than $2 billion in revenue. He died over the weekend while visiting his ranch in Colorado.
Ryan’s, Old Country Buffet parent files for bankruptcy
Buffets Restaurants Holdings, which operates at least three restaurants in the Indianapolis area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time and plans to close 81 underperforming eateries.
Hundreds of houses available as Super Bowl rentals
Indianapolis-area homeowners are looking to cash in by opening up their homes to visitors for daily prices ranging from about $700 to $9,000, but demand may not come until participants in the big game are settled.
Daniels’ chief of staff purchased parcel from Bales
The chief of staff to Gov. Mitch Daniels, Earl A. Goode, bought a residential lot from the real estate broker John M. Bales about two years after an agency led by Goode awarded Bales a contract to handle state leasing.
Falling home inventory suggests market is firming up
About 12,000 homes were listed for sale at the end of December in the nine-county central Indiana market, a roughly 18-percent drop from a year earlier.
Restaurants and stores plan new Indy locations
Off Broadway Shoes highlights new retailers entering the market.
Firms of all kinds hope to benefit from Super Bowl spending
While many of the local companies scoring a Super Bowl windfall predictably will be hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, there will be a cadre of more unlikely winners from one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
Officials steered lease deal to Bales
State officials in 2005 vowed to run a competitive process to select a private firm to handle real estate leasing for public agencies, but a 20-page request for services to more than 400 potential bidders was a sham, according to three people with knowledge of the process.
Indianapolis-area mergers and acquisitions in 2011
A number of acquisitions last year disclosed no sale price. In the Indianapolis area, those deals ranged from MacAllister Machinery’s purchase of a Caterpillar dealership in Michigan to Herff Jones’ acquisition of a Memphis, Tenn.-headquartered maker of cheerleading uniforms.
East-side biz incubator target of foreclosure
Wells Fargo Bank claims in a lawsuit that Indianapolis Enterprise Center LLC defaulted on a $3.1 million loan. The bank wants the center’s property sold to help satisfy the debt.
Bill requiring Indiana stage inspections advances
All outdoor stages in Indiana would have to pass inspections before any performances under a bill approved by a state Senate committee.
Super Bowl plans set for former Nordstrom space
An after-hours nightclub and a sports apparel shop operated by Indianapolis-based Lids Sports Group will occupy much of the space, dubbed “The Huddle,” during the festivities starting on Jan. 27.
Roundup: BoomBozz Pizza, Off Broadway Shoes, DiBella’s Subs, Happy’s Pizza
Our latest retail and restaurant roundup features a new warehouse shoe store called Off Broadway Shoes and two new pizza joints, Happy’s and BoomBozz.
State auctioning surplus farmland at height of market
Up for grabs are 670 acres of prime farmland southwest of Pendleton between Interstate 69 and U.S. 36.
Indianapolis-area home sales close year on the rise
Home-sale agreements increased 7.9 percent in the nine-county Indianapolis area in December, helping the region eke out an annual gain of less than 1 percent.
Retail sales weaken in December, but cap a record year
For all of 2011, U.S. retail sales totaled a record $4.7 trillion. That was a gain of nearly 8 percent over 2010 — the largest percentage increase since 1999. But the final month of the year was a dud.
INSIDE DISH: Noodle readies for Super Bowl rush
Owner Hal Yeagy expects at least three months of business over 10 days at the newly nonsmoking Slippery Noodle Inn, and he's spending nearly $300,000 on physical improvements and a temporary tent to make sure it rocks.
Price of Indiana farmland at a premium
A once-in-a-generation combination of strong grain prices, high farm incomes and unprecedented interest in commodities investments has caused prices for agricultural acreage to skyrocket.