Penney weighing options at closed Foundry store

J.C. Penney Co. said it's considering several options for the Washington, Pa., area market after closing its store in The Foundry shopping center, including a move to its old location at Washington Mall. Spokesman Tim Lyons said Monday the retailer is deciding whether to move more merchandise from the Foundry store, threatened by soil movement, and what to do in the long run. Penney's announced a temporary closing June 6; two other stores had closed. Attorney Robert B. Stein, court-appointed receiver for the South Strabane center, said he's talked to the department store chain and other tenants about a plan to stabilize the site, allowing them to reopen. Meanwhile, developer Christopher P. White, whose Premier Properties USA built The Foundry, was charged last week with stealing $100,000 from an Indianapolis bank. Premier lost control of its sites in a bankruptcy case.

Lawsuit seeks return of funds

Gerard Construction Co. of McCandless, its owner James Glancy and the company's retirement plan has been sued in federal court in Pittsburgh for allegedly taking money from the retirement plan and putting it into accounts they controlled. The June 3 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor does not specify how much money was taken from the retirement account between September 2004 and March 2005. Glancy, whom the government said was the lone trustee, could not be reached for comment. The Labor Department wants Glancy to restore the money to the pension account, and wants him and his company removed as trustees for the plan.

$50 million for mercury cuts

Reliant Energy Inc. will spend some $50 million to reduce at least 80 percent of mercury emissions at five of its 19 Pennsylvania power plants. Installation of equipment at the Shawville, Clearfield County, Portland, Northhampton County, Conemaugh, Indiana County, Titus, Berks County, and New Castle, Lawrence County, facilities will begin early in 2009, and will be completed by December. Reliant already is spending $375 million at the Keystone, Indiana County, and Cheswick, Allegheny County, plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, work to be completed next year, plus $10 million to upgrade existing carbon dioxide reduction equipment at the Elrama, Washington County, facility.

United cutting 950 pilots

United Airlines says it will eliminate about 950 pilot jobs beginning this summer in addition to an announced plan to cut 1,600 salaried positions and reduce its fleet. United told its pilots union about the cuts Monday. The Chicago-based carrier says it's still working with the unions on the reductions. The Air Line Pilots Association could not be reached for comment. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy says the initial layoff notices will go out in mid-July and take effect in September. She says the cuts will continue into next year.

Plaza files bankruptcy

Crossroads Plaza Limited Partnership, which last year developed an expansion that added an Aldi store at the Crossroads Plaza shopping center in Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In documents in federal court in Pittsburgh, the company lists assets and liabilities ranging between $1 million and $10 million. Operations at stores at the center are unaffected, according to Lower Burrell city officials and store representatives. Tenants include Aldi, National City Bank and a Walgreen pharmacy. Steve Arciulo, president of the general partner, could not be reached for comment.

Local construction falls

New construction activity in the Pittsburgh region continued to decline in May with the total value of new contracts at 46 percent below the same month last year. The total was $123 million, down from $228.1 million in May 2007, according to the Research and Analytics unit of McGraw-Hill Construction. Nonresidential work was down 64 percent while residential, down 25 percent. For the year, total construction value was $919.4 million, a 9 percent decline from the $1 billion for the same five-month period for the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland.

Other business news:

• The Internal Revenue Service is raising for the remainder of this year the mileage rate that businesses and others can claim for operating costs. The tax agency said that it will raise the optional standard rates to calculate deductible operating costs for vehicles from 50.5 cents to 58.5 cents a mile. The IRS said the increase was implemented in light of the major impact that gas prices are having.

• Partners of the Downtown law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis and Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman law firm of Charlotte, N.C. on Monday voted to merge, effective July 1. The firms in May announced they were exploring a merger. The combination would add three offices -- in Charlotte, Raleigh and Research Triangle Park, N.C. -- to Kirkpatrick's 25 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. and more than 175 attorneys to its approximately 1,500, including about 235 in Pittsburgh.

• Bayer AG said Monday it would invest $156 million through the end of 2009 in its Brazilian operations, a key market for the German pharmaceutical and chemical company. "Brazil is our biggest market in Latin America, and we want to further expand our position in this growth region," said CEO Werner Wenning.

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