Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Report: Youngstown 2nd-most affordable
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown recently was featured on CNNMoney.com for its affordable housing prices.
In the website’s rankings of the most and least affordable cities to purchase a home, Youngstown came in as the second-most affordable. First place went to Indianapolis.
With a median home price of $68,000 and a median family income of $53,500, Youngstown has a 93.2 percent affordability score, according to CNNMoney.com.
Work starts on China-backed resort
NASSAU, Bahamas
Chinese and Bahamian dignitaries celebrated Monday as workers broke ground on what is being billed as the largest project of its kind in the Caribbean — a mega- resort that will be financed and largely built by Beijing.
Baha Mar, a $3.4 billion complex on Nassau’s Cable Beach, will employ some 8,000 workers and is projected to generate a 10 percent boost to the Bahamas gross domestic product, according to development company Baha Mar Ltd.
The development plan calls for four hotels with a total of about 2,250 rooms, as well as a golf course, retail space, a convention center and what the developer says will be the largest casino in the Caribbean.
It is scheduled to open in December 2014 and is aimed largely at North American consumers, who make up the vast majority of tourist visitors to the Bahamas, said Don Robinson, president of Baha Mar Ltd.
Blockbuster reaches deal to be bought
DALLAS
Movie-rental chain Blockbuster Inc. said Monday it reached a $290 million deal to be bought out of bankruptcy by a group of investors.
The offer from Cobalt Video Holdco LLC is a so-called “stalking horse” bid, which Blockbuster hopes will attract other bidders who will offer more.
The Cobalt group includes funds managed by Monarch Alternative Capital LP, Owl Creek Asset Management LP, Stonehill Capital Management LLC and Vdrde Partners Inc. They all hold secured Blockbuster debt, so they stand to benefit if someone else buys the company for more than the amount they paid for their Blockbuster debt.
Cuba reports sales of cigars up 2%
HAVANA
The exclusive seller and exporter of Cuban cigars said Monday that sales of the island’s coveted smokes rose 2 percent in 2010, rebounding slightly after falling for two-straight years amid the global economic crisis.
Total sales were $368 million last year, Habanos SA vice president Javier Terres told reporters, up from $360 million in 2009.
It is the first positive growth in two years but still down significantly from the $402 million recorded in 2007. Sales fell 3 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in 2008 and 2009.
Company officials also say sales have been hurt by increasingly strong anti-smoking ordinances in Spain, the No. 1 market for the premium, hand-rolled Cuban cigars.
Associated Press