The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 10

10A Friday September 17 2010 charlotteobservercom The Charlotte Observer t- DOW 1059483 2210 i NASDAQ 2 303-25 193 112466 -41 10-YR T-NOTE CRUDE OIL 2 75 $74 57 03 -145 GOLD $127190 520 charlotteobscrvercombusiness Christmas lights to shine at speedway Million-light drive-through holiday display will charge $20 per vehicle HAROLD HINSON PHOTOGRAPHY Gov Bev Perdue joins a Santa-clad Marcus Smith for the announcement about the Christmas village Regions IBank sues EpiCeirtre developers Lender says Ghazi and Cornelson owe $89 million for loans they guaranteed for the uptown project By Kerry Hall Singe ksingeaJcharlotteobservercorn Regions Bank has sued FpiCentre developers Afshin Ghazi and George Cornelson III for more than S88 million saying the men guaranteed a loan for the uptown complex The filing made Thursday in federal court is the latest legal salvo fired by the bank at the developers who built the mixed-use entertainment complex The bank started foreclosure proceedings against the complex in July Regions says the complex had failed to pay on a S90 million loan since December I ater that month two dev clopment companies affiliated with the FpiCentre filed for bankruptcy protection delaying the foreclosure The bank later accused the developers in court documents of self-dealing and raised questions about how they spent the loan money The EpiCentre has denied those claims In court filings the bank says Ghazi and Cornelson signed guaranty agreements in May 2005 to get the bank to loan the money The bank is asking for the men to repay about $89 million in outstanding loan principal and interest and an additional $6 1 million related to an interest rate swap agreement made in 2009 Ghazi called the filing banking in an e-mail they have guarantors on a loan they pursue the guarantees Obviously we believe their claims are without merit and we wall defend against them Developers have often guaranteed construction loans As the economy has soured banks are increasingly seeking to enforce the guarantees STAFF RESEARCHER MARIA DAVID CONTRIBUTED HAROLD HINSON PHOTOGRAPHY Perdue says she hopes that Charlotte Motor display will bring jobs money and many cars to the area is one time I mind a traffic jam" she said Carolina Christmas Tickets and other details 704 455 FANS (3267) VisitCarolinaChnstmas com By Joe Marusak mjrujaknchjrlotteobservercorn CONCORD Gov Bev Perdue joined harlotte Motor Speedway officials on Thursday to announce a 2 5-mile drive-through Christmas light park and village at the track for the holidays will run Nov 22 through Jan 2 It will cost $20 per passenger vehicle and run 6-10 pm nightly The route will lead drivers onto parts of the speedway track and onto roads in the infield The event will be among the largest holiday light shows on the hast Coast said Marcus Smith speedway president and general manager It will feature a million IT lights 500 light displays a Bethle-hem-themed village live nativity carnage rides NASCAR souvenir rigs for Christmas shopping and themed areas for children with food music rides and photos wnth Santa The lights will be animated to Christmas music is one time I mind a traffic Perdue quipped of the expected lineup of cars for the display Perdue said the event will create 80 seasonal jobs and be a significant economic generator for the Charlotte region Event organizers estimate SEE SPEEDWAY UA Congress: Obama must get tough on currency By Kevin Hall McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON Congressional pressure built Thursday for tougher action against China over its trade and exchange rate policies that hurt American workers as lawmakers from both parties angrily accused the Obama administration of failing to represent US interests administration in my view must be the one to take a stand we clearly need concrete said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd D-Conn at the start of a hearing on currency policies with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as its lead witness The lopsided exchange rate affects American companies several ways It makes Chinese products cheaper when imported into the United States something American consumers seem to mind However it also makes US ex- SEE CHINA 11A THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER mayor says he worried the speedway paid show will draw visitors from his town's free display 2 big threats to the economy shrink a bit he said in a note to clients David Resler chief US economist at Nomura Securities said last leap in claims may have resulted from the ending of hundreds of thousands of temporary census jobs With that distortion largely completed the job market could stabilize he said A second Labor report said that wholesale prices which measure price changes before they reach the consumer rose 04 percent in August after rising 02 percent in July Excluding food and energy costs so-called producer prices w'ere relatively flat They SEE ECONOMY 11A Despite the drop initial claims for unemployment benefits are above levels that would signal a hiring boom In a healthy economy claims usually fall below 400000 And some companies are still letting go of workers FedEx announced Thursday it ill cut 1700 jobs Still applications for unemployment benefits have diopped nearly 11 pereent in the past month Chris Rupkey an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said last spike in claims was a he labor markets are stable and companies are not increasing evidence that a second recession is unlikely Concerns about another dow n-turn intensified last month when jobless claims spiked past the half-million mark Wholesale prices meanwhile fell in early summer for three straight months But those trends have foi now reversed themselves leaving an economy that is still growing but at a pace too slow to create many jobs First time applications for jobless benefits fell by 3000 to a seasonally adjusted 450000 last week the lowest level in two months the I ahor Department said Thursday New reports on prices jobless claims help ease fears of deflation layoffs By Christopher Rugaber AJocidltd Prr ss WASHINGTON The economy mtv have a long a to go but at ast two big threats are fading Fumomists arc less worried th it the Us will experience another round of mass layoffs and its first bout of deflation since the 1930s after the release of two government reports Thursday The third drop in jobless claims in four weeks and a mild uptick in wholesale pi ices in August add to Are you a former bank employee? Your experiences can help us shape our stones Two years ago the banking crisis crippled Charlotte and led to thousands of lost jobs and hundreds of millions in lost wages For an upcoming story we are looking for bankers whose lives were changed after the fall of Wachovia on Sept 29 2008 Join the Carolinas Public Insight Network http bit lyaJxtbq Uptown high-rise ready for first residents Buyers paid deposits of 10 percent of the sales price Mel can has said about half the people interested in the project are older or retirees ho live out of town and are looking for a second home a demographic he is betting wall help him fill the building during the next two years The -Vue is about 60 pci cent sold just a huge pent-up interest in the building because we been able to take people up into the building Mel can said this economy people want to see the finished product People have wanted to kick the first because they require less paperwork and arc quicker to complete 1 he dosings also help establish future sales prices whieh is pai Ocularly important for new projects Mel can has told the Observer he worried about appraisals say ing if one fell short to appraiser after appraiser after appraiser until he got the numbers he needed Thursday McLean expanded on his earlier statement saying very body has the lght to see their appraisal and discuss them wnth their lender If fine fine If it has er rors you can point them It is legal for developers to seek multiple appraisals which lenders depend on when deciding to make loans Starting in 2005 Vue buyers signed contracts agreeing to pay from just under $200000 to more than $2 million for condos in a new building touted as the most luxurious residential high-rise But that was before the collapse of housing paces 4 he Vue froze purchase prices at 2007 levels Mel can has repeatedly said he will not lower them Prices range from $279900 to $24 million contractor stopped work September saying it been paid for two months Wot resumed in October More recently people who paid deposits tor units have beim worrying whether the units will appraise for contracted sales price's It the units appraise the buyers are still responsible for purchasing the condo according to the developer The buyet who was closing 1 hursday was planning to pay cash said Dan Mel can CIO of MCI Cos of Chicago Developers typically close units bought by cash buyers But buyers worry that units appraise for the contracted price By Kerry Hall Singe ksingt a charlotteobsprvercom Residents can begin moving into The Vue uptown condo building this weekend amid a tepid housing market The first resident was scheduled to close Thursday The 51-story luxury high-rise which started construction before the recession hit has been closely watched by uptown boosters worried the project could fail The general WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Prices at The Vue condo building range from $279900 to $24 million i I.