The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 25

EP-- 0 Section 4 The News Observer Tuesday March 14 1992 Raleigh NC mirermr0mf-R4Ps0v rietly Business Sunstar brings village to Cary Project appeals to broad market Market watch What the indexes did 0 DOW closed at 326990 ElNYSE closed at 22416 1453 089 088 391 179 rig AMEX boon closed at 38889 i f' -f: it 2 1-- '11 ''4- :) 4 r- ti' 1 'ii 1 47 't II' 1 ''s 14'-1k i 'k't i ll' i ---i- Hi-- 1 i II i A' 'i-''' i -t '---'A' ''''l '4: 0' I 1: 1 1:: '-'1: 1': closed at 58815 By KAY McFADDEN Staff writer SdiP 500 closed at 40608 WILSHIRE $15759 closed at $3957183 billion Late buying spree pushes market ahead NEW YORK The stock market settled higher Monday after a late buying spree capped an otherwise dull session The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials added 1453 points to close at 326990 Much of that gain however was attributed to sharp rises in two stocks that comprise the index Aluminum Co of America and Goodyear Tire Rubber Aluminum Co Staff photos by Scott Sharpe Roland Hill of Traffic Patrol Broadcasting Inc records a demo jingle in studio at the company's Raleigh office Medium moves the message By CE YANDLE Staff writer 4- 1 1 I A i) il 1 i' I 1 i -1 A 1 i I Idl 4 h'- I '1'1''' i 'cltillir4'- wir-70o ilk' 4 1 1 'c''''' 4 i' CARY A single-family development isn't big news in Cary where houses are popping up faster than tulips this spring But a new one called Park Village will probably raise eyebrows in a town that's been heading mostly upscale First asking prices will be $90000 to $132000 which is well below the local average of 6160000 Second the project slated for construction in July will be located on Davis Drive near Hi House Road in the same vicinity as tonier Preston "Park Village is going to appeal to a broad range of buyers" says David Schmidt of Sunstar Homes the builderdevelopermarketer of the 593-unit development "Sin- gles average couples who want to live in Cary near good schools empty-nesters and retirees looking for a smaller place" Besides affordability Schmidt and his partners Larry Wietak and Lanny Caldwell sought something else for Park Village: the sort of small-town feel that links neighbors with one another through such amenities as a recreation center and jogging trails Therein lay one of the greatest challenges for the project In Cary such extras constitute a planned unit development or PUD which adds substantially to the per-lot cost of a project A subdivision of just houses is cheaper "In Cary a developer has to put in everything roads parks trails under a PAID" says Tim Smith president of Prop- erties Group Inc which is devel- oping Preston "That adds about $4000 to the cost of each lot" That's why the trend in Cary is toward subdivisions which Smith thinks is too bad "Places like a Park Village can be very attractive but it's really hard to make a living at them" he says "But those guys at Sunstar are very smart and if there's a way to make it work they will" The guys at Sunstar have been striving to make Park Village work Lots for instance will range from 6000 square feet to 9500 square feet That's smaller than usual but Schmidt says they've offset the size by placing See SUNSTAR page 4D Hill was running his own radio production company Hillside Productions Inc in Raleigh Parsons Traffic Patrol's director of operations and programming says Hill was hired by company president Bill Jennings specifically because the company wanted to delve further into the creative side of radio advertisement Traffic Patrol is based in Charlotte and also has offices in Greensboro and Winston-Salem "We know that radio creative can be a very lucrative business and there just isn't a lot offered in this market" says Parsons a Pittsburgh native who attended the Juil Hord School in New York She joined Traffic Patrol which is known primarily in the region for its radio traffic reports five years ago The pair jointly write the jingles hire the musicians rent the recording studio and oversee production The jingles cover the gamut of musical styles from country to rock to blues After a song is conceived Hill and Parsons record a somewhat crude soundtrack on a cassette and then play the song for the corporation's decision-makers while Hill sings the song live If the executives like the tune the tune is recorded in a studio using professional performers Depending on production costs Acton Corp acquires textile shop in SC RALEIGH Acton Corp said it has acquired a South Carolina textile shop for 8136 million from Acton's affiliated corporation Hickory Furniture Co The Raleigh holding company said the arrangement gives it ownership of Sew Simple Systems Inc in Fountain Inn SC Hickory Furniture owns more than 50 percent of Acton's stock and nearly 80 percent of Acton's voting shares Acton is a diversified operation engaged in real-estate development underwriting automobile insurance cable television and manufacturing Futures options trading brought to early close NEW YORK Flooding closed the world's main futures and options exchanges in Chicago eliminating tens of billions of dollars in trades and slowing activity in other financial markets Three exchanges were shut down Monday the Chicago Board of Trade Chicago Board Options Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Market participants said billions of dollars in trading opportunities were lost and some smaller traders faced potential losses because of their inability to protect exposed securities positions Roland Hill and Penny Parsons bring radio medium to clients RALEIGH Roland Hill III pushes the play button on his compact cassette player and what sounds like a Top 40 tune emanates from the black box Then Hill cups a hand over his left ear closes his eyes and in his best tenor voice starts his sales pitch Can't you hear the sound? Can't you hear the crunch? That's what you hear When you munch on a Mount Olive Try us and you'll see How crisp crisp can be When you munch down on a Mount Olive Crunch Crunch Hill opens his eyes and pulls his hand away from his close-cropped blond hair thin on top and revealinghis pate He looks expectantly at his guests waiting for the kudos Over the past few years Hill has grown accustomed both to words of praise and gape-mouthed looks of wonder from potential clients As director of marketing and sales for the Raleigh office of Traffic Patrol Broadcasting Inc he and coworker Penny Parsons have stunned more than a few corporate executives "Normally the client sits there and just can't believe it" says Hill inside his sparsely decorated office at the West Chase office park off Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh Hill and Parsons are in the business of persuading corporate executives to let Traffic Patrol handle their radio advertising accounts using jingles to lure customers The two compose the jingles after consulting with the executives on what message the company is trying to convey If the executives buy the idea Parsons and Hill produce the ad The pair are among only a few such companies that offer such services in the Triangle other than advertisements produced in-house by radio stations Their clients have included Hichfood Holdings Inc in Richmond Va parent company of Pack 'N Save groceries: Mitchell's Hair Styling in Raleigh Lowe's Foods in Burlington and the Golden Corral Inc restaurant chain in Raleigh The folks at Mount Olive Inc have not yet decided whether to buy the -crunch crunch" jingle for their pickles The radio ads are part of a growing part of Traffic Patrol's business which began once Hill was hired in 1990 At the time See MEDIUM page 4D WCPE will play musical towers John Akers live on IBM TV Profits up at Wachovia CCB earnings fall 5 in first quarter GM chairman takes pay cut for poor 1991 DETROIT General Motors Corp Chairman Robert Stempel was paid $1 million in 1991 a 31-percent pay cut in a year the company lost $45 billion GM said Stempel 58 received no bonus for the second straight year and received no payout under a performance incentive which in 1989 pushed his salary to $1775 million the company announced Monday Stempel earned $1444 million in 1990 Stempel's company contributed the largest part of a combined $76 billion loss by GM Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Corp By CE YANDLE Staff writer By JIM BARNETT Staff writer 7 01yttlit" fif44' Xt izi) ''''''1 4 jg- tt 2'3 4 By KIM KENNESON Staff writer IBM chairman John Akers will take workers' questions Larry King he's not But on Thursday afternoon IBM chief John Akers will host what probably will be the most-watched television talk show among the computer giant's 187000 US employees Like the renowned host of CNN talk show "Larry King Live" Akers will field questions from a national audience But Akers' audience will be more exclusive IBMers who tune in on the computer giant's internal television network "People can call in and ask what they like" said Jim Ruder-man a spokesman at IBM's headquarters in suburban New York Officially it's being billed as one of Akers' regular "state of the business" conferences But Ruderman said Thursday's conference would be the first time IBM's chief executive took live questions from employees via the network USAir Continental slash fares to Florida NEW YORK USAir said Monday that it will cut spring fares from the Northeast and parts of the Midwest to Florida by up to 20 percent and rival Continental Airlines quickly announced it would match the new rates Both carriers' new non-refundable fares for affected cities are $258 round trip for off-peak periods and $308 round trip for peak travel times The new fares are for travel between April 23 and June 14 I i 4 0 t4t 474 ir el'11 0'1 wf eq't 0 14o 2 2 14 4g ti 4v "It's really not a departure in any way" he said "It's something we do as often as we can" Among those tuning in will be at least some of IBM's 11000 Triangle workers Almost certain to be on their minds are questions about IBM's plans to cut 20000 jobs this year through voluntary severance programs as well as the company's first-quarter results which are scheduled to be released today WAKE FOREST It's as tall as the Empire State Building weighs 125 tons and is about to get moved across Wake County Durham Life Insurance Co in Raleigh has donated its old WPTF television tower near Apex to WCPE-FM in Wake Forest a non-profit station that plays classical music Durham Life last year sold its broadcast holdings which included WPTF and no longer needs the tower There's one catch: WCPE must move the 1250-foot-tall tower more than 20 miles from its current location off US 1 South to WCPE's property near Wake Forest on Chalk Road where it will be reassembled "Yeah that's all they've got to do" quipped Joe Brown vice president of real estate for Durham Life "We wanted to donate it to somebody locally and in most cases if you can find someone to take it down and move it that's the best you can do" WCPE plans to dismantle the 250000-pound behemoth into 60 sections each a little more than 20 feet tall The station plans to move the tower by the end of the year at an estimated cost of $300000 The tower is worth at least twice that much "We're doing our weight-lifting exercises in preparation for this" said Deborah Proctor WCPE's general manager For months WCPE has solicited donations in an effort to raise the funds needed to build or purchase a new tower The non-commercial station which is at 897 on the FM dial is supported solely through listener donations The station plans a major fund-raising drive April 23 through May 3 to cover the costs of the tower and a new antenna The station currently operates with a 130-foot tower that sits atop the Capital Towers apartment building off Six Forks Road in North Raleigh Including the building the top of the tower is about 250 feet high With the new tower WCPE will triple its transmitting power to 100000 watts from its current level of 33000 watts The station expects to increase its range to a radius of 50 miles from 20 miles now WPTF which now operates as WRDC transmits its signal from a tower near Garner From staff and wire reports Two of the Triangle's largest lenders Wachovia and Monday reported sharply higher first-quarter earnings driven in part by lower rates paid on their customers' deposits Also reporting first quarter results was Durham's CCB Financial Corp which saw earnings fall 5 percent because of problems with consumer loans The parent of Security Federal Savings Bank also in Durham reported a 21-percent increase in earnings 111 Wachovia Corp in Winston Salem said its net income grew 26 percent to $1061 million or $121 a share compared with first quarter 1991 net income of $841 million or 97 cents a share The company's troubled assett declined slightly during the first quarter to $306 million In its fourth quarter the company mi ported a loss stemming from its purchase of South Carolina Na tional Corp in Columbia SC As of March 31 Wachovia had assets of $321 billion "They are seeing very little growth in loans and their expenses are under extremely tight control" said Anthony Davis an analyst with Wheat First Securities Inc in Richmond Va "But their margin exploded" See CONSUMER page 3D 4 Inside Hotel L'Europe Inc files for bankruptcy protection 1111 United Fed 2D Rocky Mount remains stable after president's death By KAY McIADDEN Staff writer MI Prime rate 2D Chemical Bank cuts prime rate to 625 ruptcy Court in Greensboro Hotel L'Europe Inc which no longer owns the hotel is a Durham real-estate investment firm with several commercial holdings in downtown Durham One of them the HBO' building at West Main and Mangum Streets was See INVESTMENT page 4D 6D 9D The corporation headed by Julius Verwoerdt the Netherlands immigrant who built Chapel Hill's renowned Hotel Europa in 1982 has filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors in US Bank Business people NC markets Foreign exchange Stocks 8D 7D 4.