Alaska
AIDEA sells old MarkAir building
A Fairbanks warehouse once leased to the now defunct air carrier MarkAir was sold Oct. 29 to Alaska Mechanical Inc. for $290,000, according to a spokesman for the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority in Anchorage.
The facilities, which included nearly 19,000 square feet of storage space, and office space on its ground floor, mezzanine and second floor, had been on the market since the mid-1990s, said loan officer Bruce Chertkow. It had been appraised prior to the sale at $280,000, he said.
The warehouse was part of an AIDEA development finance project and AIDEA had leased it to MarkAir. When MarkAir went into bankruptcy, AIDEA acquired title to that and other properties on which the authority had loans.
AIDEA's portfolio still includes MarkAir hangars at King Salmon and Kodiak, Chertkow said.
David Hilty, who runs an air taxi, flight-seeing and other small plane operations out of Kodiak, has made an offer to purchase the Kodiak facility for $230,000.
His offer matches the amount that AIDEA values the terminal, said Jim McMillan, the agency's deputy director of credit and business development.
AIDEA officials also said they had been notified by the Alaska Department of Transportation that it was changing its policies to allow for negotiations for use of the terminal for general aviation purposes, rather than strict airline carrier use.
- Alaska Journal of Commerce/
The Associated Press
Alaska Pacific Bancshares reports 3Q earnings
Alaska Pacific Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Alaska Pacific Bank, reported a net income of $176,000, or 28 cents per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2004. That compares with a net income of $196,000, or 31 cents a share, during the second quarter 2004 and $195,000 in the third quarter of 2003.
The company issued a dividend of 7 cents per share to stockholders.
The bank had record levels of total deposits and total assets at the end of the third quarter. Total assets were $177.5 million, while deposits were at $146.6 million. Loans were at $136.7 million at the end of the third quarter, a decrease of $4.7 million from the second quarter and an increase of $22.2 million from a year ago.
Alaska Pacific Bank, based in Juneau, has seven branches in five Southeast communities.
- Alaska Journal of Commerce
World
Asian economies urged to jointly develop oil and gas pipelines
TOKYO - The International Energy Agency on Nov. 16 urged major Asian economies to work together to develop oil and natural gas fields in Siberia, and offered to act as a go-between.
The IEA's Claude Mandil predicted that the Siberian far east will become a major energy supplier for Asia, and said China, Japan and South Korea stood to benefit from working together to find and tap the energy resources there.
Japan and China are competing to develop Russian oil deposits, while South Korea views Russia as a potential key supplier.
Resource-poor Japan has offered to fund the exploration and development of Siberian oil reserves and build a pipeline to a port on Russia's Pacific coast. China wants oil resources for its booming economy, and has lobbied Moscow to stretch a pipeline from Siberia to China.
Currently, Asia relies heavily on oil from the Middle East. But soaring global oil prices as well as dangerous shipping lanes have driven Asian countries to look for alternative sources.
- The Associated Press
