Streetcar maintenance facility, outdoor dining at Sticky Fingers and a 'model' hotel room

Welcome to permit on this spectacularly sunny Opening Day for the Washington Nationals.

2550 Benning Road NE: Mayor Muriel Bowser last week pledged to get the H Street/Benning Road streetcar line into service, eventually. On Wednesday, the day after her first State of the District address, D.C. was issued a permit to construct a 15,000-square-foot, two-story streetcar maintenance and training facility with a basement, on the grounds of Spingarn High School. According to D.C.’s streetcar website,…

California senator wants to revoke Tesla rebate

Should buyers of a $70,000 Tesla get a rebate? It’s a question one California lawmaker is asking, but is it for the right reasons?

California state Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, has proposed eliminating the $2,500 rebate on electric cars that cost more than $40,000. This would eliminate the rebate for Tesla buyers while preserving it for automakers like Toyota and Nissan, which make electric vehicles for less than the $40,000 price point.

“It’s hard for the average Californian to understand…

DTZ to relocate, expand real estate offices in Triangle

In one of Duke Realty’s last office lease deals in the Triangle, the Raleigh office for the DTZ commercial real estate firm is moving its personnel and operations into the new Perimeter Three office building at Perimeter Park in Morrisville.

The move for DTZ, representing an expansion of 43 percent more space with the 13,363-square-foot lease deal, will be effective May 18.

For many on DTZ’s staff in Raleigh, it’s a return to their former home in Perimeter Park where Synergy Commercial Advisors,…

Port Arthur residents balking at Valero’s proposed parkland near refinery

Valero Energy Corp.’s offer to build new parkland in Port Arthur, Texas in lieu of paying a $200,000 fine for a September 2013 emissions leak is being met with some resistance from local residents, the Beaumont Enterprise reported Monday.

San Antonio-based Valero (NYSE: VLO) is envisioning a new park near its 310,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Port Arthur with shade trees, fruit trees, a children’s play area and a vegetable garden. More than 800 people work at the refinery.

Valero made the…

Will Colorado's utility-rate advocate for small business run out of gas?

The Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel — which speaks up for small businesses and individuals facing utility rate hikes — will go out of business July 1 unless the Legislature re-ups the agency.

Yet, as The Denver Post reports, no bill to renew the agency has been introduced at the statehouse so far, with just a few weeks left to go in the 2015 session.

The office advocates for small businesses and others when faced with rate hikes for electric, gas and telephone service. From 2008 to 2013,…