The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 33

April sales up at Federated stores. D5 Drug maker Merck replaces CEO Raymond Gilmartin. D8 4J FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005 Editor: Brian Schwaner, bschwaneienquirer.com, (513) 768-8385 IT" 31 Ri J) Mall's new owners may subdivide anchor space The Bottom Line Dow Jones Industrials 10340.38 44.26 1172.63 3.02 Nasdaq Composite 1961.80 0.43 Dollar vs. Euro Q0.0008 Gold" $430.11 $0.32 should announce plans later this year. Penney's exit from Tri-County is the latest wrinkle in the sea changes rippling through area malls.

Earlier this week, Feldman Mall Properties, a New York developer, announced plans to buy Northgate Mall in Colerain Township for $110 million and invest $20 million to add entertainment attractions. By Mike Boyer Enquirer staff writer SPRINGDALE The new owner of Tri-County Mall said Thursday it is looking at several options to fill tie space being vacated by J.C. Penney one of the main anchors of the mall. Penney's this week confirmed what has been widely speculated for months: It will close the 160,000 square feet Tri-County store and re- Carl Reggie, marketing director for Thor Equities, which acquired the 1.3 million-square-foot Tri-County Mall in February for $180 million, said alternatives could include finding a new anchor, subdividing Penney's space among several smaller anchor-type stores or devoting it to some type of entertainment "We're well aware of what's going on," he said. "We're looking at several options, but have nothing firm at the moment." Jeff Tulloch, Springdale economic development director, said Thor officials have informally told city officials they are working on lining up new tenants for Tri-County Mall and Dearborn develops Port to seek director for Banks project Board prepared to spend $200,000 to fund salary and pay search firm -1 ft '(' rXA yf By Cliff Peale Enquirer staff writer Moving ahead on its plan to restart the slow-developing Banks riverfront development project, the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is preparing to spend up to $200,000 to hire and pay a director for the project.

The port's board reviewed a job description Thursday morning and probably will hire an outside company to conduct the search. Combined with a first-year salary, the search could cost up to $200,000 during the next year. The group, which is funded by Cincinnati and Hamilton County to concentrate on the Banks and brownfield cleanup projects, probably will use proceeds from a sale of the old Green Industries property in Sharonville to a developer to fund the job in the short term. Chairman Jack Rouse called it a worthwhile expenditure. "Every step of the way now is a sell as we move toward developer selection," Rouse said.

"It's a fabulous job for somebody in this The new Greendale Cinema also has party rooms and a video game arcade. The reclining seats come with cup holders and movable armrests. It's just a short drive from Argosy Casino. Greendale's arrived: It has movie theater locate to a store at the Bridgewater Falls retail center at Bypass Ohio 4 and Princeton Road in Fairfield Township. Quinton Crenshaw, Penney's spokesman, said the Tri-County store, which opened in 1988, will close July 30 and the new Bridge-water Falls store will open the next day.

Site was flood The EnquirerMeggan Booker Chip Perfect, who is well known for his ski operation, Perfect North Slopes, is co-owner of the Greendale Cinema. He says it gives workers a summer job. Two well-known Dearborn County businessmen and their families own Greendale Cinema: Chip Perfect of Perfect North Slopes and John Maxwell Sr. of Maxwell Development Construction. Perfect, the operations chief for this venture, looked into the ranks of his ski resort employees to hire Greendale Cinema manager Penny Monnig, her assistant and some of the 40 part-timers.

"Part of the reason that we built this was that it serves the needs of now rated below B-plus, or one notch below investment grade. The agency assigned a negative outlook to both ratings. Shares of GM fell about 6 percent, or $1.94, to close at $30.86 on the New York Stock Exchange. Ford shares dropped more than 4 percent, or 46 cents, to $9.70. In both cases, cited questions about the strategies the two largest U.S.

automakers are employing to persevere over their sliding sales, particularly in North America. "After the downgrade there was a few minutes of silence, followed by 15 minutes of mayhem," said Michael Fuhrman, product manager at GFI in New York, an inter-dealer ft See MALLS, Page D2 business." The Port also is moving on hiring a manager for brownfields -contaminated industrial sites it hopes to clean up and sell to developers. And it's collecting resumes from potential finance managers. But the Banks is the port's highest-profile project, one that has stalled as city, county and port officials try to cobble together funding for streets and garages that would allow the development between Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium to proceed. Port president Kim Satzger said the group was close to enough funding to start construction on a garage just east of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Once that starts, it can goo about finding a development team. The port will be responsible for building and operating the garage. It is working with another group, the Cincinnati Center City Development as a partner in the Banks project. E-mail cpealeenquirer.com with our previously stated growth plans and provides Peoples Community with an opportunity to further expand in the Tristate area," Peoples Community CEO Jerry Williams said. "With Peoples Federal, we will now be well positioned to pursue other growth opportunities." Peoples Community has about $910 million in assets, about 150 employees and 13 branch offices in Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties.

If approved by banking regulators and shareholders, the PFS acquisition would add about $134 million in assets and up to 32 employees in three branch offices in Aurora, Rising Sun and Vevay. See PEOPLES, Page D5 heap The Associated PressRic Francis Crude Oil $50.83 $0.70 10-Year T-Bonds 4.148 ijr 0.038 Full report, Pages D3-D5. TRISTATE SUMMARY NS Group, union reach 4-year deal NS Group Inc. and the United Steel Workers have reached a new four-year contract agreement covering about 230 employees at its Newport Steel Corp. welded tubular plant in Wilder.

Ben Leger, presidents of Steelworkers Local 1870, said members approved the new agreement by about a 2-1 margin in voting Wednesday. The union went on strike briefly over the weekend after rejecting the company's previous contract Mike Boyer Lindner adds to his AFG stock American Financial Group Inc. chairman Carl Lindner Jr. has purchased more than 170,000 shares of American Financial Group Inc. stock in the last two months at prices ranging from $30.27 to $31.40 per share, but the purchases will increase his ownership stake in the insurance company by less than 1 percent.

Cliff Peale CORRECTION Wrong date An item in the Sunday Business Notes had the date wrong for Gov. Bob Taft to speak at a Clermont County Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting. The event is Tuesday, May 9. Information: (513) 576-5000. BUSINESS PEOPLE Jeff Doerrer ofMasonhas been named regional sales manager at Marketing Doerrer graduated from Bowling Green State Doerrer University with a bachelor's degree in communications.

Shirley Dees DAY AT THE PUMP Average orices for fCguiai uiucautu in mmmm Greater Cincinnati 1 and Northern I Kentucky. GREATER CINCINNATI ink WEDNESDAY $2.17 YEAR AGO $1.83 N. KENTUCKY WEDNESDAY $2.28 YEAR AGO $1.90 Source: Oil Price Information Service An edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer plain The EnquirerMeggan Booker 'Part of the reason that we built this was that it serves the needs of the community. Chip Perfect the community," Perfect said Tuesday, dressed in Polartec and jeans. While Lawrenceburg has the historic one-screen Walnut Theater, the luxury of a multiplex cinema was a road trip away for residents of the county, whose population grew 9.7 percent from 1995 to 2002.

The hole in entertainment offerings also was a lost opportunity to serve the 3.8 million annual patrons of Argosy Casino and Resort, Perfect said. "We need more things here for the kids," said Debbie Brunner of Aurora, whose 16-year-old daughter, Jena, just started to drive. "And probably, with gas prices the way they are, I'll go here now," instead of the Springdale 18 Cinema de Lux. Greendale Cinema has room for 1,500 people in 10 theaters ranging from 69 seats to 290. It features maroon recliners with cup holders and armrests that fold up for couples seating.

See CINEMA, Page D5 investment grade brokerage in credit derivatives. GM's 8.375 percent bonds due 2033 fell $5.50 to $73.50 per $100 in face value, yielding 11.573 percent, according to MarketAxess, an electronic trading system for corporate bonds. A bond trading below $80 per $100 in face value is generally considered to be "distressed." GMAC's 6.75 percent bonds due 2014 were $4.75 lower at $81 per $100, to yield 9.864 percent, while Ford Motor Credit's 7 percent bonds due 2013 were $1,875 lower at $90.50 per $100, yielding 8.612 percent. See BONDS, Page D2 Peoples staking claim in Indiana PFS buy is second in five months 10-screen complex is locally owned and opens tonight By Annie-Laurie Blair Enquirer contributor REENDALE, Ind. Orlan do Bloom fans here normally I would be piling into their cars tonieht for a 15-mile drive to Erlanger or a 25-mile jour ney to Spnngdale to catch tne opening night of "Kingdom of Heaven." Now they can drive down the street to see the highly anticipated epic from "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott, starring the heartthrob British actor.

The 10-theater Greendale Cinema opens today just off U.S. 50 at Interstate 275's Lawrenceburg exit. Finally, residents of Dearborn County and western Boone County have a multiscreen cinema with first-run movies and stadium seating. But this $5 million project is un-ordinary in many ways. It was built on a 35-acre site recaptured from the Ohio River flood-plain by using waste ash from a Cinergy power plant, capped and ringed with clay.

It is a locally owned, independent cinema in an era of corporate consolidation. And you may find your winter ski instructors now serving you By James McNair Enquirer staff writer For the second time in five months, Peoples Community Bancorp of West Chester has signed a deal to buy a bank in Southeast Indiana. Peoples will buy PFS Bancorp, the Aurora-based parent company of Peoples Federal Savings Bank, for $33.9 million, or $23 a share, in cash. The purchase price represented a 37 percent premium over PFS' closing stock price Wednesday and lifted PFS shares to $22.55 Thursday, up $5.80, or 34.6 percent. Peoples shares closed Thursday at $21.06, down 10 cents.

"This acquisition is consistent to junk relegates GM, Ford 4 Automakers' bonds By Christine Richard and Tom Sullivan Dow Jones News Service NEW YORK Standard Poor's sent a shudder through the corporate bond market Thursday when it cut the credit ratings of U.S. auto giants General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. and their huge finance units, which together have combined debt close to half a trillion dollars. The ratings on GM and General Motors Acceptance Corp.

were cut to double-B, or two notches below lowest investment grade, while the ratings on Ford and Ford Motor Credit Co. were cut to double- Ford vehicles on display at a Los Angeles dealership. The parent company, along with General Motors, had its bond ratings lowered Thursday by Standard Poor's..