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BEHIND THE NEWS: Conseco cloud follows Cuneo to Duke Realty J&J dangles big dollars

Conseco Inc. is suing former executive Ngaire Cuneo to try to collect $65 million it says she owes under the company’s disastrous loan program. Worse, a federal judge last summer said the explanation she gave in court for buying a $10 million home in the debtor’s haven of Florida was “not at all credible.” “It appears to the court that the transactions were carried out primarily for the purpose of defeating a creditor,” federal Judge David Hamilton said last June,…

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King Memorial Park area readies for redevelopment: Local contractor wants to build 50 homes in near-north-side neighborhood

A local investment firm hoping to capitalize on a resurgent near-north side is planning a 50-home, privately funded redevelopment project in the blocks surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park. Homevestors LLC, led by husband and wife Jerry and Carole Jaquess, has applied for city approval to build 50 single-family homes between 16th and 22nd streets just south of Fall Creek Place. “It’s the next logical area” for redevelopment, said Jerry Jaquess, a general contractor. Jaquess’ partnership is not affiliated…

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Y&L moving HQ to school: Ad firm to leave Massachusetts Avenue for renovated IPS building in Lockerbie

Advertising agency Young & Laramore is putting its highprofile Massachusetts Avenue building up for sale as it prepares to buy and occupy a former school building in Lockerbie Square. Y&L is listing its 17,000-square-foot building at 409 Massachusetts Ave. for $1.6 million, said Paul Knapp, the firm’s CEO. The building includes 4,000 square feet of storage space in the basement, leaving about 13,000 square feet as usable office space, Knapp said. The agency is leaving its headquarters behind after 15…

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BULLS & BEARS: Understanding the effect of increasing interest rates

Interest rates are a major variable in the evaluation of any investment, whether it’s stocks, bonds, real estate … you name it. As interest rates change, they alter the value of all financial assets. Simple mathematics shows that, as interest rates rise, the present value of a dollar to be received tomorrow is worth less to an investor today. Thus, when interest rates rise, the prices of all investments move down in value. And conversely, when interest rates fall, investment…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: New tax law provides significant deductions for industry Contractors, architects, engineers stand to benefit For example Replacement legislation Another example

A new tax break known as the “Production Deduction” was signed into law by President Bush late last year and is effective for years beginning after Dec. 31, 2004. Construction contractors and engineers and architects involved in construction projects can benefit from this important new tax deduction. Upon announcement, the legislation raised many issues, and the IRS recently issued guidance to clarify them. For 2005 and 2006, the deduction is equal to the lesser of 3 percent of the taxpayer’s…

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Purdue ousts biz guru: Director fired amid shakeup of high-profile tech incubator

The billboards read “Go Businessmakers,” but the yellow flag is up. Purdue University is reorganizing its primary program to assist high-tech startups and has fired the director. Part of Purdue’s nationally recognized effort to transform raw university research into viable businesses, the Gateways Program had been managed since October 1998 by Sam Florance, a former investment banker and management consultant. Purdue closed Gateways and eliminated Florance’s position on March 14, IBJ has learned. On March 18, Joseph B. Hornett, senior…

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Indiana State Bar Association embraces construction: Organization starts Construction and Surety Law section to help lawyers who work in building-related fields

A new section of the Indiana State Bar Association is a little out of the ordinary. The Construction and Surety Law section, which went into operation last fall, focuses on a specific industry instead of a specialized area of the legal practice, such as liability or contract law. This approach is pretty uncommon for state bar associations, Indiana State Bar Association officials said. “This section represents the cutting edge for bar membership,” said Section Vice Chairman David J. Theising, a…

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Barton House awaits renovation: Former nursing home to become housing

A long-vacant downtown nursing home is about to find new life as affordable housing. The Indiana division of the Salvation Army plans to convert the Barton House on the northeast corner of Delaware and Michigan streets into 30 apartments for lowincome families and space for some of the organization’s programs. The Salvation Army purchased Barton House and Carpenter apartments, its neighbor to the east, for about $500,000 each in late 1999, said Maj. Dennis Strissel, the Salvation Army’s divisional commander…

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INVESTING: As seeds of market decline are cast here, look to Japan

Japan has been a stock market dog for 15 years. The Japanese economy is the world’s second-largest and its resurgence after World War II is amazing, but the country has been a trap for investors. That picture might be changing. Let’s go over some history first before we talk about why Japanese stock makes sense today. By the early 1970s, Japan had lifted itself out of the war’s destruction. Then the manufacturing companies there got a miracle: the first oil…

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GIZMOS: High-tech watch keeps information at your fingertips

The idea of a portable device to indicate the time of day is nothing new in the world of technology. Watches of various forms have been around for years. However, it’s only been in the last 30 years or so that modern technology has changed the face-literally-of telling time. Since the days of the original Pulsar LED digital watches (think red calculator digits) in the early 1970s, watch manufacturers have tried to appeal to technology’s early adopters by adding functionality…

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Bye-bye Big Apple, hello Indy: Young entrepreneurs opt to open firms here

Two Hoosier natives are back home in Indiana to start neighboring businesses on Fort Wayne Avenue, no less. The world travelers-separated in age by just a year-spent significant time in New York City but only met within the past six months. With similar stories to tell about why they chose to return to Indianapolis, and impressed with the city’s vibrant downtown that had blossomed while they were away, the two opted to take the plunge together. Both say they’re not…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Mergers may shake up Simon’s department-store mix Last supper

Big changes are brewing at the department-store chains that anchor Simon Property Group Inc.’s shopping malls in Indianapolis and across the nation. That may be good news for the company’s strong malls but bad news for its weak ones. The Wall Street Journal says Cincinnatibased Federated Department Stores Inc., parent of Lazarus-Macy’s, has rekindled negotiations to buy St. Louis-based May Department Stores, the underperforming parent of L.S. Ayres. Such a deal would be the latest in a string of shakeups…

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FAMILY BUSINESS: Consider having lawyer audit your business Small doses of advice from all of the professionals you consult with can prevent serious problems in the future

Many family business owners view their lawyer as a necessary evil. It’s almost as though we carry some deadly disease; call your lawyer only when the life of your business depends on it! But just as physicians have learned to control smallpox with small doses of vac cine, administered over time, the owners of a family business can also use regular doses of lawyers and other advisers to minimize the risks of the many problems that can put your business…

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Johnson County gets major gated community: Development planned next to The Legends golf course

Johnson County is set to get its first major gated housing development, and The Legends of Indiana golf course-coowned by former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight-should reap a much-needed financial boost. Construction on the $35 million project on 35 acres in Franklin is set to begin this spring. The project, consisting of 144 homes and condominiums, will be constructed between the front nine and the back nine of The Legends’ Jim Fasiodesigned championship course. There will be 38 single-family…

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Mortgage industry waking up to fraud: Collaboration increasing to combat illegal schemes Flipped out

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office in late January announced a 101-count indictment in a mortgage fraud scheme, it closed a year-long investigation into a ring that involved 10 people and 43 houses in Indianapolis, Marion and Fairmount. For the individuals involved, the indictments could bring prison time and hefty fines. But for the bank that loaned money on the houses, the scheme signaled the end of the road. The lender, Louisville-based First Bank Inc., struggled during 2003 and 2004 to…

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BULLS & BEARS: Rebalancing a portfolio requires careful thought

To finish the examination of asset allocation practices in the investment industry, consider the strategy called “portfolio rebalancing.” To refresh the understanding of asset allocation, think of an investment portfolio as being depicted by a pie chart. The various slices of the pie represent the percentage of the portfolio (money) an investor has allocated to each asset class. Examples of asset classes include largecompany stocks, small companies, international stocks, real estate investment trusts and fixed-income instruments. An adviser may recommend…

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Midfield may alter hotel-biz flight path: Hendricks County could gain from new airport terminal

Airport Expressway won’t live up to its name for much longer. When Indianapolis International Airport’s midfield terminal opens in 2008, the fast track to flight will be a dedicated entrance off Interstate 70. The move will shift travelers a few miles to the south and west-and take away the direct access that now drives them to expressway hotels. Observers predict hotel development along I-70 will take off as the midfield project nears completion, most likely creating a new hospitality hub…

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Villaggio condos aim high: Proposed eight-story project targets downtown’s SE side

A developer with deep roots in the Fletcher Place neighborhood is setting its sights on an ambitious eight-story condominium project on the southeast side of downtown. Villaggio at Page Pointe calls for 65 condos ranging in size from 1,600 square feet to 4,300 square feet. Most units will sell for $265,000 to $530,000, with three penthouse units listed for more than $900,000. The first floor of the building will house about 20,000 square feet of retail space. A parking garage…

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Ex-execs fly solo: Horn, Shoopman, others trade big firms for small

As president of The Dura Cos. Inc., Paul Shoopman was responsible for a 155-employee company that brought in $75 million in revenue in 2003 and built as many as 700 homes a year in Marion and the surrounding counties. Last year, Shoopman won an Ernst & Young national Entrepreneur of the Year award and sold his company to publicly traded California-based KB Home. This year, he’s starting over. Shoopman, 51, opened Indiana Land Development Co. in early January. From his…

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Carpenter moving forward as independent brokerage: Execs confident of success without GMAC affiliation Name has value

Armed with a stack of market research chock full of industry sales figures, Tom Prall says he’s certain Carpenter Realtors will carry on just fine without any outside assistance. Prall has led the south-side residential real estate agency the past 30 years and recently guided its divestiture from national franchise GMAC, a division of Detroitbased General Motors Corp. With the contentious split behind him, the former Marine first lieutenant, who served in South Vietnam, is poised to navigate Carpenter through…

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