Local building costs outpace major cities

Honolulu construction costs rose 3 percent in the third quarter, higher than in other U.S. cities tracked by property and construction consulting firm Rider Levett Bucknall.

Costs in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Washington increased between 1.5 percent and 1.67 percent.

U.S. construction spending is at its highest level since 2008, according to the firm’s Third Quarter 2014 USA Construction Cost Report.

Optimism about the construction industry has been heightened by a strong rebound in construction spending in July.

Costs for the quarter also increased, however, and might increase further, the study warns.

Some recent cost increases are associated with a lack of skilled workers to support increased demand, particularly in Hono­lulu and New York, the study found.

Embroidery shop opens doors in Wahiawa

North Shore-based hat embroiderers Washington Teixeira and his wife, Charlie, have opened their first Route 99 retail store in Wahiawa.

The shop, next to Kemoo Pub near Schofield Barracks, opened Monday, and the owners will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 25.

The Teixeiras have embroidered various styles of caps, hats and other merchandise for several years, selling their wares at craft fairs and online.

Their store’s name comes from the highway that runs from Pearl Harbor through Central Oahu and to the North Shore.

Their company, North Shore Embroidery Inc., also offers custom embroidery work, according to its website.

Simply Organized to reopen in Ewa Beach

Simply Organized will open in Ewa Beach at the Lau­lani Village Shopping Center on Oct. 23.

The 7,000-square-foot store will sell more than 3,000 products to organize the home, office and garage.

Simply Organized, sister company to locally owned City Mill Co. Ltd., originally was located at the Crossroads at Kapo­lei shopping center, where it opened in 2008. Employees from that location will be transferred to Ewa Beach, the company said.

Fiat Chrysler stock rises, falls in launch

DETROIT » Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles bounced between negative and positive Monday in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

The newly merged company’s stock, traded under the symbol FCAU, opened at $9 and rose quickly to $9.55 before falling much of the day. The stock closed at $8.92 as the Dow Jones industrial average slumped 222 points in a late slide.

The company began trading in New York to raise its profile and give U.S. investors a chance to own part of the Chrysler comeback story. The stock will also trade in Milan, Italy.

Waldorf sale raises security concerns

WASHINGTON » Concerned about potential security risks, the U.S. government is taking a close look at last week’s sale of New York’s iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel to a Chinese insurance company.

U.S. officials said Monday they are reviewing the Oct. 6 purchase of the Waldorf by the Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group, which bought the hotel from Hilton Worldwide for $1.95 billion. Terms of the sale allow Hilton to run the hotel for the next 100 years and call for "a major renovation" that officials say has raised eyebrows in Washington, where fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyberespionage run high.

The officials also said the sale could have implications for the government’s long-standing relationship with the hotel, which serves as home to the American ambassador to the United Nations and hosts the president and hundreds of U.S. diplomats during the annual U.N. General Assembly.

Regulators drill in handling bank failure

WASHINGTON »Top U.S. and British bank regulators, including Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, have taken part in an exercise to see how they would handle the failure of a large multinational bank and communicate with each other.

The exercise held Monday was part of the regulators’ efforts to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis and to end the need for governments to bail out big banks. The officials also included U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.

They discussed U.S. and British procedures for regulators to take over and break up big banks that fail, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a news release. The FDIC hosted the exercise, which took place at the agency’s office in Arlington, Va., outside Washington.

ON THE MOVE

HHL Holdings, parent company of Hono­­lulu Home­Loans, Hono­lulu Property Management and Xpedite, has announced that Linda Koma­tsu-Wong is the new senior vice president. She was previously vice president of business development and relocation director at Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties as well as vice president and director of marketing for Servco Pacific.

Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union has announced:

» Linda Meyer has been named vice president of information systems. She has 28 years’ experience in information technology and worked in the credit union industry since 1991.

» Jason Ayers has been promoted to assistant vice president-loan manager. He has been in the financial service industry since 1997, and his experience includes serving as branch manager for Associates Financial Service on Oahu.

» Su Lambert has been promoted to human resources manager from training and development coordinator. Her experience includes working for Experian, Micro­soft and eFunds Corp.

» Nellie Medeiros has been promoted to corporate development and marketing manager. She has been employed with the credit union for 41 years.

HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union has announced that Peter Sanchez is the new vice president of risk management. He was previously internal audit manager at the credit union. Sanchez has more than 25 years of audit and compliance experience.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures:

HONOLULU HARBOR