THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 14, 1995 TAG: 9508140092
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Motorola Inc.'s option is to expire Tuesday on 230 acres near Richmond. But Motorola isn't ready to start building the $3 billion semiconductor plant just yet.
Last week, the Illinois company sought a 60-day extension on its option to buy land on which to construct a huge plant employing up to 5,000 workers.
``We're very encouraged by the progress, but we just need more time to complete a few remaining due diligence items,'' said Paul J. Shimp, a Motorola senior vice president.
The new purchase option expires Oct. 9. Motorola, which paid $100,000 to hold the land, might ask for a second 60-day option that would stretch into December, the company said.
House rich and cash poor? Here comes good news for retirees. Fannie Mae, a federally chartered mortgage loan buyer, is talking about launching a big program for reverse mortgages.
Reverse mortgages are like home equity loans that don't have to be repaid until the borrower moves or dies. They've caught on slowly because - believe it or not - lenders aren't sure how to set them up so they won't lose money if people don't die on schedule.
Fannie Mae will help turn reverse mortgages into a growth industry for private lenders, predicts Ken Scholen, director of the National Center for Home Equity Conversion in Apple Valley, Minn. ``It's not going to go down. It's not going to stay flat. The question is how fast will it go up?'' he said.
The library: books, magazines, newspapers, Internet.
Internet? That's right.
Two Norfolk public libraries - the Kirn Memorial downtown and the Blyden Branch on East Princess Anne Road - have set up terminals to provide users with free access to the Internet, the global computer network.
It's the latest expansion of public broadcasting WHRO's Community Link project, which is aimed at electronically linking citizens with local governments and community organizations.
WHRO won a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting earlier this year to support the effort. Plans call for expanding public Internet access to other libraries in the region.
Contel Cellular, a unit of GTE Corp., is changing its name to GTE Mobilnet. GTE officials say the name change will be completed by January. Contel is one of Hampton Roads' two main cellular providers. The other is Sprint Corp.'s Sprint Cellular unit, which Sprint is in the process of spinning off as a separate company.
Nedlloyd Lines' consolidation will mean some more work for its Hampton Roads offices. Ships of the Netherlands-based line often call at Portsmouth Marine Terminal. It will close offices in Baltimore, Boston, Port Everglades, Fla., Jacksonville, Secaucus, N.J., and Seattle. Work will be shifted to Charleston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chesapeake. The office in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake employs more than a dozen people.
The Chesapeake office said the consolidation will involve moving 30 people nationwide.
Bell Atlantic phone customers have a new option for paying their bills: direct deductions from their bank accounts.
The phone company said it will offer two debit options: one that automatically deducts the bill from their checking accounts each month, at no charge, or one in which customers call an 800 phone number and, navigating through a voice-response system, order a deduction from their account. The latter option costs an additional 20 cents per payment.
Bell Atlantic said more than 2,000 customers, many of them retirees who spend winters away from their homes, requested the payment option. by CNB