Franklin School competition reopened as D.C. formally cancels museum bid

The District has ended a nonprofit’s ambitious bid to transform the Franklin School into a center of the arts, issuing a new solicitation for a partner to rehabilitate the facility at 925 13th St. NW “for a suitable use that is compatible with the building’s historic character.”

“The redevelopment of the Franklin School presents an extraordinary opportunity for a flagship presence in the heart of the District of Columbia,” according to the new request for qualifications, issued Monday.

Mayor Muriel…

Dip in oil prices could lead to lower expenses for Honolulu office buildings

The dip in oil prices could lead to lower operating expenses for the scores of office buildings in Honolulu, especially in the downtown core, according to a new report by Hawaii Commercial Real Estate LLC.

The largest operating cost for office buildings is electricity, most of which is used for air-conditioning systems, and since most of Hawaii’s electricity is produced by burning oil, those costs should drop, at least for 2015, according to Hawaii Commercial Real Estate’s Honolulu Office Market…

Owners of Nomaco and Nomacorc expanding Zebulon industrial park with new investment

Manufacturing magnate Marc Noël wants to expand on a plan championed by former Gov. Jim Hunt in the 1980s to attract new industry to the eastern part of the state through expansion of his newly-renamed Triangle East Business Park in Zebulon.

Noël, through various subsidiaries, owns about 120 acres in Zebulon, formerly called Zebulon Industrial Park, where two of his largest manufacturing plants for the Nomacorc wine cork production company and the Nomaco thermosplastic manufacturing firm are based.

In…

Pacific Office Properties sells Downtown Honolulu office building for $9M

A Honolulu company with ties to China has closed on the purchase of the 10-story Tissue Genesis Tower office in Downtown Honolulu for $9 million in cash, the seller, Pacific Office Properties Trust, confirmed to PBN on Monday.

Larry Taff, president and CEO of Pacific Office Properties (Other OTC: PCFO), told PBN that the 72,340-square-foot mixed-use office tower formerly known as the Clifford Center, which had been unders sales agreements with three other buyers before selling to U. Yamane Ltd.,…

Buyer of old Federal Reserve Bank building in downtown Seattle still a mystery

Publicly, it’s still unknown who bought the old Federal Reserve Bank branch in the heart of downtown Seattle, but the names of some local real estate developers can be crossed off the list of suspects.

Seven years ago, Sabey Corp. entered into a deal to buy the former branch at 1011 Second Ave., for $19.75 million, according to information that was obtained in 2011 through a Freedom of Information Act request. On Monday, a Sabey spokesperson said the company did not bid this time around.

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