Originally Published: February 28, 2014 12:47 PMModified: February 28, 2014 1:38 PM

The Penobscot Building's new owners have signed four new tenants, including the return of a former law firm tenant and a new Greek restaurant.

The tenants recently inked leases with owners Toronto-based Triple Properties Inc. in the 1.25 million-square-foot building in downtown Detroit.

The Penobscot is 45 percent occupied with more than 1,000 tenants, Apostolopoulos said. The leasing agent is Fred Klugman, president of Detroit-based Klugman Commercial Properties LLC.

Triple Properties acquired the Penobscot Building in April 2012 for $5 million in cash. It also has retail, office and entertainment developments in Toronto, Chicago and New York.

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If you enjoy the content on the Crain's Detroit Business Web site and want to see more, try 8 issues of our print edition risk-free. If you wish to continue, you will receive 44 more issues (for a total of 52 in all), including the annual Book of Lists for just $59. That's over 55% off the cover price. If you decide Crain's is not for you, just write "Cancel" on the invoice, return it and owe nothing. The 8 issues are yours to keep with no further obligation to us. Sign up below.

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Table tennis club, Greek restaurant among new tenants at Penobscot Building

Foodie alert: An upscale Mexican restaurant is coming to Millcreek Township.

Millcreek supervisors approved a liquor-license transfer Tuesday night from the city of Erie for a new restaurant planned for the Millcreek Mall.

The restaurant is Mad Mex, a regional chain of 11 restaurants with seven in the Pittsburgh area, two in the Philadelphia area and one each in State College and Columbus, Ohio. The Mad Mex website describes the restaurant this way: "We spin an American food mashup of Mexican, Southeast Asian and Spanish."

Erie attorney Michael Agresti, representing Mad Mex before the supervisors, said the family-friendly restaurant will go into the northwest corner of the former Burlington Coat Factory, which relocated to Keystone Drive in Summit Township in September 2012.

Agresti said Primanti Bros., maker of the iconic Pittsburgh sandwich topped with french fries and coleslaw, is another restaurant proposed for the southwest corner of the former department store.

Agresti said the Mad Mex restaurant would seat 270 customers and hire 55 to 60 full- and part-time employees.

Joe Bell, spokesman for Youngstown-based Cafaro Co., which owns the mall, said there is no signed lease with Mad Mex. "But that doesn't mean they're not talking," Bell said.

Cafaro Co. has a policy of not naming potential tenants until a lease is signed, which Bell called "fairly standard in the industry."

Cary Klein, chief executive of Pittsburgh-based Big Burrito Restaurant Group, which owns the California-style Mexican restaurant chain, said the company hopes to sign a lease today with Cafaro for 6,400 square feet of the former Burlington space.

It will include a year-round outdoor patio that will be heated and covered in the cold months, he said.

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Supervisors approve liquor-license transfer for Mad Mex eatery in Millcreek

OKLAHOMA CITY A healthy alternative to casual dining restaurant offering fresh salads, wraps, flatbread pizzas and homemade soups, today announced the temporary closing of its downtown City Place location at 204 N. Robinson beginning Saturday, March 1.

The Coolgreens downtown store is slated to reopen in January 2015 with new morning hours and menu options, including breakfast items and a juice bar.

After much deliberation, weve decided to temporarily close our City Place location due to downtown construction and street improvements that have impacted our visibility and accessibility, said Allan McMurrain, Coolgreens founder and managing partner. However, were excited to announce that once the dust settles on downtown construction, we will have additional fresh, healthy options for our downtown fans to enjoy. We look forward to the improvements that are taking place downtown, which will make our restaurant experience even more enjoyable for our customers.

Catering options will still be available to downtown customers, and the Nichols Hills, North May, Edmond and Norman Coolgreens locations will remain open. All 15 downtown employees will be given the option to transfer to any of the existing Coolgreens restaurants.

The first Coolgreens location opened in Nichols Hills Plaza in October 2009, followed by a location in north Oklahoma City in May 2010. The Norman location opened in September 2011 and the Edmond location in January 2012.

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Popular healthy alternative restaurant to close temporarily in downtown OKC

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) February 25, 2014

Sunshine Recycling of Orlando providing dumpster rentals in Florida is currently working on the construction site of a new 4 Rivers Smokehouse restaurant location in East Orlando. The restaurant is located on University Boulevard near the campus of the University of Central Florida. Sunshine Recycling has been providing dumpsters and hauling services for this new construction for the past several months.

Construction on the new restaurant is anticipated to conclude in early spring of this year, and the location will officially open for business around May 15. This is the second location constructed from the ground up, and it is the sixth Florida location for 4 Rivers Smokehouse.

Sunshine Recycling of Orlando also assisted on the construction and renovation of the previous five locations. The company is currently working with contractor Friedrich Watkins Co., providing 30-yard capacity roll off dumpsters to collect construction debris as well as regular hauling services to empty and return the containers. The new location will include the restaurants in-house bakery, Sweet Shop, and design elements reminiscent of Texas smokehouses.

This is an exciting job for us because 4 Rivers Smokehouse is a true cult favorite here in Florida, said Chuck Herb, owner of Sunshine Recycling. We know that fans are excitedly waiting for the grand opening for this location, so were working closely with the builders to make sure that their project is never held up because a dumpster is full.

Sunshine Recycling Inc. of Orlando is a dumpster rental company servicing central Florida. Offering various sizes of dumpsters including front-load, roll-off and full-size construction dumpsters, Sunshine Recycling also provides recyclable, waste and construction debris collection and hauling services and trash compactors. The company is a proud member of the U.S. Green Building Council and is LEED AP certified. For more information about Sunshine Recyclings services, please visit http://www.orlando-dumpsters.com/services/.

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Orlando Dumpster Rental Company Currently Servicing New Construction Site for 4 Rivers Smokehouse Location

Major construction and congestion is coming to Carmel ahead of schedule.

The Indiana Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced plans to shut down a section of U.S. 31 in Hamilton County for eight months beginning this spring, work that was initially set to begin in 2015.

But while the plan calls for accelerated work on many of Carmels busiest intersections, project officials still dont expect to finish the full project before the end of 2015 as other work is pushed back.

The road will be closed beginning April 4, from Old Meridian Street to 136th Street, through Thanksgiving, according to INDOT, while new overpasses and interchanges are built at major cross streets including 136th, Main Street and Carmel Drive. U.S. 31 also will be cut to one lane of traffic each way beginning at 116th Street in the south and Keystone Parkway in the north.

The work is part of a broader, $1.2 billion project ongoing since 2011 to turn U.S. 31 into a limited access highway by removing 32 traffic lights between I-465 and South Bend. The Hamilton County portion will convert 13 stoplights to free-flowing interchanges, shaving commute times by 10 minutes locally and as much as 30 minutes along the entire corridor, according to transportation officials.

While the overall plan has been in place for years, the announcement still caught residents, businesses and even Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard off guard Tuesday, mere weeks before the closures are expected to take effect.

Today is the first I knew of the exact dates, said Jami Santos, co-owner of Bellacinos Pizza and Grinders on Carmel Drive near the highway. We were all aflutter about it this morning.

Santos said her employees were wondering how they should get to work come April, and she doesnt know what to expect from customers when the road shuts down.

We keep going back and forth as to how much its going to hurt our business, Santos said. On the plus side, Bellacinos doesnt have much highway visibility to begin with, so the increased local traffic could help. Her restaurant already has received a boost from construction workers, she said.

(Page 2 of 2)

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Construction work will close section of U.S. 31

TahoeChamber will hold a forum next week to discuss what impacts construction on Kingsbury Grade might have on local businesses and residents.

The project, which consists of repaving and upgrading about four miles of the road from Highway 50 to the summit, is expected to start in May and could affect travel over the pass particularly for motorists coming from Carson Valley.

I think anytime you have construction it impacts and inconveniences people Chamber President Betty B Gorman said. But I think our goal is not to focus on how much damage, but how to help people and focus on how to get people through it as seamlessly as possible.

Gorman said the Chamber is holding the forum because it felt stakeholders and small business owners, particularly, should have a venue to gather more information on the long-term construction project.

During construction, transportation would be limited along Kingsbury at different times of the day and season.

Before Memorial Day and after Labor Day, roadwork would be conducted 24 hours per day and six days per week. Westbound traffic coming from Carson Valley with the exception of buses and emergency vehicles would face restrictions.

Construction would continue between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but it would only occur at night. Under this option, only one lane of alternating traffic would be open at that time. One lane in each direction would be open during the day.

On Thursday, project manager Pedro Rodriguez said the Nevada Department of Transportation is pursuing an aggressive 12- to 18-month construction schedule to complete the project as quickly as possible.

Many businesses operate on Kingsbury on the four-mile section of road. The Red Hut Caf is one of them, but assistant manager Liza Olivta said she doubts construction will have much of an impact on the restaurant.

Red Hut has had to deal with changes brought on by construction before. However, it usually balances out, she said.

See more here:
Forum to discuss Kingsbury Grade construction plans

Contributed By:

Dave Blanchard

OPB | Feb. 20, 2014 12:45 p.m. | Updated: Feb. 20, 2014 3:12 p.m.

Austin Kirk /OPB

A report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) shows the issue of wage theft disproportionately affects workers in the restaurant and constructionindustries.

Wage theft includes an employer paying less than minimum wage, not paying overtime, not paying for certain hours worked, or simply not paying an employee at all. Food service and construction jobs account for eight and four percent of Oregon jobs, respectively, but they made up 30 and 16 percent of all wage theft claims filed with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries(BOLI).

In total, 871 wage theft claims were made with BOLI between July 2012 and June 2013, but theres evidence to suggest many more incidents gounreported.

Have you experienced wage theft? How did you address the problem, if atall?

GUESTS:

Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust

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Wage Theft In Restaurant and Construction Industries

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, 9:00p.m. Updated 12 hours ago

McDonald's is looking to open a new restaurant in Plum this spring.

The new location at the intersection of Route 286 and New Texas Road is replacing the current McDonald's less than a mile away on Route 286 near the Holiday Park Volunteer Fire Department.

While construction is influenced by weather conditions, I expect the McDonald's of Plum building to be complete by late April, said Andy Shaffer, owner and operator of the current restaurant on Route 286.

The new location is expected to have a side-by-side drive-thru.

The feature allows for two people to place orders at the same time.

More than 70 percent of (McDonald's) customers utilize the drive-thru for service, Mark Mox of McIlvried, Didiano & Mox, a consulting, engineering and surveying firm hired by McDonald's for the project said in 2012 when restaurant officials presented a site plan to the Plum Borough Planning Commission.

Borough council in November 2012 voted to approve the new restaurant that will have 46 parking spots.

Mox said a survey of parking at the current site revealed that at the peak hours of business, 27 parking spots are in use 20 for customers and seven for employees.

Forty-six will provide sufficient parking for this business, Mox said.

Read more from the original source:
New McDonalds coming on Route 286 in Plum

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Employees at the Little Germany Restaurant on Henderson Street just past where White Settlement Road splits off of it look forward to the day when the land near them is under water.

Ive always wanted to work at a water front property! laughed Julie Martin, a server at the restaurant.

Its part of the Trinity River Vision project to cut a channel parallel to where the river bends through downtown. It will create a large island for development where there were once mostly scrap yards and abandoned warehouses. The project will also improve flood control.

>>>CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRINITY VISION HOMEPAGE<<<

But before the channel is dug out for water, three bridges have to be built on Henderson Street, North Main Street and White Settlement road. And that construction more cones, barricades and detours will start this year.

>>>CLICK HERE TO VIEW BRIDGE DESIGNS<<<

Theyre building the bridges now because its cheaper to do it on dry land. So, for the next three years drivers will have to find ways around the construction.

All three of those streets will be affected by the construction. On Henderson and North Main theyre building new roads to divert traffic around the bridges. The biggest headaches will likely be found on White Settlement Road.

View post:
Building Bridges For Trinity River Vision Underway

Reviews coming soon, reads the OpenTable page for the Malibu Pier Restaurant and Bar, a brand new restaurant that may be opening on the Malibu Pier as early as this month. The space has been vacant for nearly 3 years.

The new restaurant, which is currently looking to hire sous chefs, according to a Craigslist post, will be operated by The Lark Creek Restaurant Group, a company based in San Francisco that owns restaurants all around California. The Malibu Pier Restaurant and Bar would be the 13th eatery owned by the group.

The space, once home to Alices Restaurant, is located at the base of the pier, curbside to Pacific Coast Highway. The area has been filled with the buzzing of construction crews for several months. Last year, pier concessionaire Alexander Leff vowed he would have two new restaurants open before the end of last summer.

The Malibu Pier Restaurant and Bar is set to offer seasonal farm-fresh cuisine with a contemporary seafood focused menu, according to its Craigslist ad, in a restaurant with large patios, private dining areas and a craft bar program.

There is no word on exactly when the new restaurant will be opening.

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New Hints Emerge About New Malibu Pier Restaurant