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(Tribune file)
The owner of the Chicago Cubs is asking the state to help finance more than $200 million in renovations at Wrigley Field that will ensure the team stays at the historic ballpark for the next 35 years.
The Ricketts family, which purchased the team last year from Tribune Co. in a deal valued at $845 million, has pledged that the project will not be financed by new taxes or an increase in existing taxes, but it would redirect some future revenue to the stadium. Get the full story »
U.S. construction spending rose unexpectedly in September as investment in public projects touched the highest level in more than a year, a government report showed on Monday. Get the full story »
Navistar International Corp. has announced plans for a new testing facility at its plant in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park.
Navistar leaders said Friday that they plan to invest up to $90 million in the 80-acre campus over the next few years. Get the full story »
A group that lobbies against fast food and meat consumption will ask Mayor Richard Daley to temporarily stop fast food restaurant construction.
In a Nov. 4 letter shared with the Tribune, a director of nutrition at The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine writes that fast food consumption leads to obesity and heart disease.
“This step is urgently needed because Chicago’s high-fat, meat-heavy diets are literally breaking hearts,” Susan Levin, the director of nutrition, writes. “A moratorium on new fast-food restaurants could be a critically important step toward fighting this epidemic.” Get the full story »
Sales of new U.S. homes improved last month after the worst summer in nearly five decades, but not enough to lift the economy.
The Commerce Department says new home sales in September grew 6.6 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 307,000. Even with the increase, the past five months have been the worst for new home sales on records dating back to 1963. Get the full story »
Caterpillar Inc. said Friday it is buying a German engine maker, MWM Holding GmbH, from private-equity firm 3i for 580 million euros, or about $810 million, in cash. Get the full story »
Caterpillar Inc. reported stronger-than-expected earnings on Thursday and raised its full-year forecast, but warned that a number of factors could weigh on its performance next year, and its shares fell as much as 2.8 percent.
The world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment, which last year had its worst one-year decline in sales since the Great Depression, said it expected sales next year to snap back to pre-recession levels. Get the full story »
Caterpillar Inc. said it will build a new assembly plant in China to produce small hydraulic excavators as the company continues to expand its production capacity in developing regions.
Construction of the plant in Wujiang is expected to begin by the end of the year, with excavator production scheduled to start in 2012. Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment by sales, has supplied the Chinese market with excavators weighing less than eight tons from plants in Xuzhou, China, and Sagami, Japan. Get the full story »
USG Corp., the largest U.S. maker of gypsum wallboard, said James S. Metcalf will take over as chief executive officer from William C. Foote on Jan. 1 as the company tries to reverse 11 consecutive quarters of losses.
Metcalf, 52, who joined the sales force in 1980, has been president and chief operating officer of Chicago-based USG for the last four years, the company said in a statement. Foote, who is 59 years old and has been CEO for 15 years, will continue as chairman. Get the full story »
Navistar representatives, along with roughly a dozen Illinois officials, announced plans this morning to move the manufacturing company’s headquarters to Lisle, retaining thousands of jobs in DuPage County.
“I’ve got one thing to say. Illinois is Navistar country,” said Gov Pat Quinn. “We believe in Navistar.”
Navistar President Dan Ustian added that the project would create about 500 engineering jobs right away. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The Chicago Spire was dealt another setback Wednesday when a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit by developer Garrett Kelleher seeking to avoid repayment of two loans.
Illinois lost 20,200 jobs in July, but the numbers look worse than they are because of last month’s construction strike that shut down projects across the state.
The 19-day work stoppage ended around July 20 but not before the Illinois Department of Employment Security took its survey of the labor force. Get the full story »
Caterpillar Inc. says sales of its yellow-and-black equipment improved 32 percent in July when strong sales in Asia and North America drove the firm’s third-straight positive month.
Caterpillar is disclosing its monthly sales figures in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are considered an indicator of global economic health because Caterpillar is the largest maker of construction and mining equipment.
Donald Trump and his lenders have inked a new loan agreement that resolves long-standing litigation related to the development of his Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
Trump and his lenders, led by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas and Fortress Credit Corp., last week agreed to extend the term on an approximate $600 million construction loan for five years. So, all litigation between the parties has been dismissed. Get the full story »
Home Depot Inc. still sees room for profit growth this year as consumers take up long-delayed maintenance and repair projects for their homes.
The company posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast Tuesday, helped by cost controls. While sales missed expectations in a weak economy, investors were relieved that the top home improvement chain still expects an increase for the rest of the year. Get the full story »
