Church buys 11 acres in Kapolei project

The developer of a senior-living community in Kapo­lei has arranged for a church to be part of its project called Lei­hano.

St. Jude Parish announced Friday that it bought 11 acres in the 40-acre Lei­hano project on which to develop a church and support facilities, projected to break ground in 2020 after a capital campaign. The new church campus will enlarge and replace existing parish operations in Maka­kilo.

The church bought the Kapo­lei property for an undisclosed price from an affiliate of Kisco Senior Living, the master developer of Lei­hano.

Kisco envisions the community, which is being developed on land close to Kapo­lei’s commercial core, will include homes, retail stores, restaurants, medical services, a hotel and other elements. An initial phase with 84 rental apartments for seniors called ‘Ilima at Lei­hano is being developed on a 7-acre portion of the site and is expected to open next fall.

The developer also sold 2 acres last year to local furniture retailer C.S. Wo & Sons, which plans to open a 55,000-square-foot store early next year.

Apartments help fuel U.S. home-building

WASHINGTON » Construction firms broke ground on more apartment complexes in September, pushing up the pace of U.S. home-building.

Housing starts rose 6.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.017 million homes, the Commerce Department said Friday. Almost all of the gains came from apartment construction — a volatile category — which increased 18.5 percent after plunging in August.

The sluggish recovery and meager wage growth has left more Americans renting instead of owning homes. Apartment construction has surged 30.3 percent over the past 12 months.

Starts for single-family houses rose just 1.1 percent in September, contributing to an 11 percent gain during the past 12 months.

Chimerix gets FDA OK for Ebola test drug

WASHINGTON » A North Caro­lina drugmaker plans to test its experimental antiviral drug in patients who have Ebola, after getting authorization from regulators at the Food and Drug Administration.

Chimerix Inc. said it has received FDA clearance to proceed with a trial examining the safety and effectiveness of its brincidofovir tablets in patients who have the virus. The company said in a statement that the drug is available for immediate use in testing.

With the FDA’s permission, the Durham, N.C., drugmaker previously made the drug available to the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S., who died in Dallas last week.

Economist in Britain says rates to stay low

LONDON » The Bank of England’s chief economist signaled Friday that interest rates could remain at record lows for longer than expected due to weaker wage growth and global economic uncertainties.

Andrew Haldane told business leaders he had become "gloomier" because real wages are falling, productivity is stagnant and savings interest rates are at their lowest since the 1970s, even as Britain’s economic growth rate remains the envy of other G-7 nations.

The comments helped boost British stocks, which had fallen on investor concern that the Bank of England would increase interest rates. Haldane’s remarks came after James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, said U.S. central bankers should consider delaying plans to wind down bond purchases this month.

Firm partly owned by Branson delays IPO

Virgin Money, the British financial services company partly owned by billionaire Richard Branson, became the third issuer to delay its listing in the past week amid concerns over volatile market conditions.

The lender had hoped to list its shares in London this month but said Friday that it was "mindful of market conditions." It now expects its IPO to occur later than October.

"Virgin Money continues to perform strongly, and we remain focused on delivering a successful initial public offering as soon as market conditions allow," Virgin Money CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia said.

ON THE MOVE

ABC Stores has announced the following promotions:

» Dominado Cacpal to store manager of store No. 52 at 2432 Koa Ave. He was previously an associate store manager, assistant store manager and sales associate for ABC Stores.

» Roger Dizon to store manager of store No. 26 at 2020 Kala­kaua Ave. He was previously an associate store manager, assistant store manager, service coordinator and sales associate at ABC Stores.

The East Hawaii Regional Board of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. has announced Jennifer Leilani Zelko-Schlueter as its newest member. She is currently director of government, community and media relations at Hawaii Electric Light Co. Prior to HELCO she was an attorney at the law firm Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures:

HONOLULU HARBOR

KALAELOA BARBERS POINT HARBOR