Big project gives downtown Issaquah a more urban vibe

Seven years ago, Issaquah launched an ambitious planning effort to make the core of the city more urban. The plan is now taking shape in a big way with a 344-unit apartment project called Atlas.

Lennar Multifamily Communities has broken ground on Atlas at Northwest Gilman Boulevard and Seventh Avenue Northwest. Unlike the low-slung buildings that now cover much of the suburb’s downtown, Atlas’s three buildings will be five stories tall.

Atlas is the first large apartment complex to be developed…

Why these are boom times for some Bay Area malls

The Bay Area’s humming economy has made the region’s shopping centers hot properties for retailers.

According two recent reports, vacancy rates at many malls and shopping centers are very low and are projected to remain so at least for the next year. While there are national reports of “dead” or failing malls, experts disagree whether this is a trend to watch in the Bay Area.

While the average shopper might loosely use the word “mall” for many shopping destinations, the word encompasses an ecosystem…

Argos Therapeutics to buy HQ building in Durham for $7.6 million

Executives at Durham biopharmaceutical firm Argos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARGS) have changed their minds about leasing the new headquarters and manufacturing facility that is under construction near Research Triangle Park.

The company will instead be buying the property from the developer, The Keith Corp. of Charlotte, in a deal valued at $7.62 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The total amount may be adjusted if changes are made to the construction…

Texas steelworkers walk out of largest U.S. refinery, 20 percent of U.S. production hit

The United Steelworkers union strike that overtook five Houston refineries has spread to the largest U.S. refinery.

Workers walked out of the Motiva Enterprise refinery in Port Arthur on Feb. 21 shortly after midnight, according to Fuel Fix. The refinery is the largest in the U.S. with 660,000-barrels-per-day capacity, according to Market Watch. The refinery is a joint venture between Houston-based Shell Oil Co. and the Saudi Aramco subsidiary Saudi Refining.

The strikes also spread to three plants…

FiscalNote's ambition: To build a global LexisNexis

Following its recent $10 million Series B round, CEO Tim Hwang of FiscalNote told me the company’s ambition is to create a global LexisNexis, which collects and analyzes legislative data at the international level.

FiscalNote made its name with software that predicts legislative outcomes from federal and state lawmakers(with 94 percent accuracy, according to the company) using a dearth of historical data — everything from demographic info to individual voting records and ideologies.

The company…