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Show . - Op W - -- SPECIAL L iTIONAj COLLECT! I- - , k ( Business news and commentary 'i' I Lionel Todd, clock, get financing for project Developers Burton Todd and Keith Lignell beat the clock easily on their final deadline for getting $2.25 million in financing for five acres of land downtown. The commitment for the money came just nine days after the two missed a first deadline for payment to Salt Lake Citys redevelopment agency. Todd-Ligne- ll Co. was scheduled to make the payment Sept. 12 but failed when First Security State Bank rejected the loan application at the last moment. The then 30 had developers days to cure their default. Announcement will come formal announcement of the payment and details of the money source will probably be forthcoming this week, Lignell told the Enterprise, once architect Ron Molen has completed final renderings of their planned officeretailhotcl parking complex and Todd has returned from a trip to Europe. The million complex will be constructed along West Temple between Second and Third A South. The developers also sent Mayor Ted Wilson a letter last week outlining their position and criticizing the redevel-elopmeagencys role in aiding the Crossroads Plaza mall also planned for downtown, Lignell said. Lignell said they didn't opposcCross-Crossroad- s and dont even think it will hurt their development, but neither do nt they think redevelopment should be involved in helping The agency has it along. facilitated the Crossroads project by including the site, between South Temple, First South, Main Street, and West Temple, in its redevelopment plan and is in the process of appraising one piece of property there for possible condemnation. Endangered investment The announcement of plans for Crossroads, made just after had contracted to buy their property, endangered the latter's financing. According to Lignell, it wouldn't have been so bad if First Security State Bank, fearing the Crossroads competition would endanger its investment, had simply rejected their loan application at that point. But instead, the bank kept setting tougher conditions on the loan and didnt flatly say no until the day the money was due. Lignell said. He asserted they were entitled to some consideration from the city commission because redevelopment's actions had violated their contract. Todd-Ligne- ll Citv commissioners had already rejected a request to extend their payment deadline. so Todd and Lignell found themselves in default. Fortunately for them, their contract called for a grace period, and the developers apparently then had no trouble getting altWe just ernate financing. hustled real fast, Lignell said. The developer claimed competition from Crossroads will not hurt their project, but one-mon- th Shoplifters, bad check artists not represented in fact would complement it. The Todd-Ligne- ll the fate of the debilitated Spyglass Hill development, rejected by city commissioners tw'o weeks ago because they deemed the 14.9 percent grade too steep to be reached by city services. But a city planner said the stakes are even higher. A half dozen other foothill devel- opers may be affected by the he said. ruling as well, The decision was the commission's first made under the new foothill ordin VOLUME 7 NUMBER 13 ance which restricts construction in the city foothills. Now in a hearing scheduled for Oct. 14, they will be compelled to show' cause for denying approval of the project, ject. Moving against the recommendation of the planning commission, the city commission claimed the grade of the 33 acres at 2800 East between 1700 and 1900 south was too steep for construction and denied developer Hooper Knowitons proposal. Knowitons attor Two task forces this week will begin looking for ways to complex, curb shoplifting and the writing of bad checks in Utah. According to legislative analyst Richard Dunn, the n of people who committees are made up of a might be interested in legislation on the two subjects. They include merchants, judges, law enforcement officials, county attorneys and legislators, Dunn said. Shoplifters and bad check w riters will not be represented, however. The task forces were created by the business subcommittee of the state legislature's interim Business, Labor and Economic Development Committee. The meetings this week will probably include a general discussion of the issues involved and a possible determination of howr to study them Dunn said. Legislation agreeable to all the groups involved then may be drafted in time for the legislatures 1979 general session. however, will have less emphasis upon retail stores than originally planned, he cross-sectio- said. Paid by Oct. 13 The actual payment will hopefully" be made about a week before the final deadline of Oct. 13. Lignell said. The first phase of construction, on y one of the three mid-ris- e office buildings should begin within 45 five-stor- pl-lanc- d, days. Press s tangs by Dean Alsup Enterprise Staff Writer Its stock plunging over seven points and1 a trading suspension following shortly after isnt exactly what Billings Energy Corp. calls a hearty welcome to NASDAQ, a national electronic quotation system for But with the stocks. the NASDAQ listing came wider exposure, a higher price and new breed of financial press coverage bigger, better (maybe) and more frequent. Barely a month after joining the National Association of Securities Dealers over-the-count- er Automatic Quotation svs-te- Barrons and a freelance writ- er from Ft Lauderdale, Tla. whose story popped up in some 50 newspapers nationwide. Each article told a different storyr," said one of Washingtons SEC agents not known for his lively jaw' with The stories prereporters. sented differing financial pictures for Billings and we chose to stop trading of the stock until we find out of them is accurate." The stock was suspended through Sept. 30. m, Billings stock was pended for seven days when sus- conflicting articles appeared in financial newspapers from coast to coast. The Securities and Exchange Commission But neither story is whol- accurate in content. Freelancer Ron Laytners story' substantially overvalued Billings earnings, the firm claimed, while the Barrons article, appearing Sept. 5, spent $160,000 in engineering fees to meet ordinance requiredements for his velopment," said city planning director Vcrn Jorgenson. (see Spyglass page 10) 60-ho- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1977 lings corporate origins from a defunct Utah furniture company. Fillings makes its home in the pure air of Provo, reads the Barrons Utah, article. Moreover, it isnt a young company, really, its origins go back to 1931. However, for most of its life, it was called Capital Furniture, which may seem a strange name for a company in the energy business; in truth, nothing strange about that name, since until 1954, the concern sold furniture at retail in Salt Lake City. From then until 1970, the firm was in a state of suspended animation. . . ." (see Billings page 20) ly implied Billings was a speculative stock and pointed out how numerous energy stocks have created high investor ney, Steve Peterson, filed an extraordinary writ in district court last week in response to their action. He said a final decision for the development rests with Judge David Dee. although a reaffirmation of the city decision would still allow Knowlton other avenues of appeal. Knowlton B points its finger at coverage given the company by Spyglass Hill fate may set trend for other developments Salt Lake City Judge David Dee holds in his hands y- interest, regardless of earnings. Billings stock promptly dropped several points immediately after the issue hit It plumthe newsstands. meted from $23 to $14.50. Old financial data Billings said the Barron 's article was essentially correct but was based on eight month Most old financial data. objectionable to the Provo based developer of hydrogen powered vehicles, is the trite" treatment it gives the companys operations and the big deal" it makes of Bil UTAH EDITION The stories presented differing financial pictures for Billings and we chose to stop trading of the stock until we find out which of them is accurate. Index New M Corporations page ortgage rates 13 page 15 page 26 Comm entary Stock quotes page 28 50 CENTS |