BRA blasted for failing to collect rents

The BRA and one of its affiliates — owed a combined $5.6 million in outstanding rent as of April, according to a recent audit — were criticized yesterday as lenient landlords that are far too "cozy" with the businesses that lease space from the agencies.

But several tenants defended the Boston Redevelopment Authority and its offshoot, the Economic Development Industrial Corp., saying their mission is to promote business growth.

Former state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan, a longtime BRA critic, said the agency has an obligation to Boston taxpayers to manage its assets and collect the money due.

"The BRA has a dismal record of collecting the full amount due from its licensees and grantees," said Sullivan, now the research director at the Pioneer Institute. "What we have been seeing is that the BRA is way too cozy with business owners, and they cut them slack and coddle them and do everything but what they are supposed to be doing, which is to get value for the taxpayers... It's an outrage."

But Michael Labadie, president of National Color, a printing company that is behind on its rent for space in the EDIC-controlled Boston Marine Industrial Park, said carping on unpaid rent misses the point.

"It's tough to be a manufacturing company in Boston right now," Labadie said. "I think people do get behind in their rent, and they do try to work with people. The whole program was instituted to keep manufacturing jobs in Boston."

According to the KMPG audit of the BRA released Wednesday, National Color owed the EDIC $93,118 as of April, but the BRA said yesterday the amount in back rent now stands at $24,874.

The audit also contended that as of April, Geekhouse Bike owed the EDIC $86,162, of which $62,704 was 90 days past due. The BRA said yesterday the rent that is three months past due has climbed to $86,162.

Geekhouse owner Marty Walsh said the debt applies to a separate company he owns, Headquarters Boston, that rents EDIC space on Channel Street.

"We're on the right track now ... but we got behind, and now we're trying to fix it," he said. "The BRA is working with us. They want us to stay here and do well."

The two companies are among more than a dozen the audit highlighted for owing the BRA and EDIC large amounts. Copy Cop, a print shop, as of April owed $213,859, of which $197,658 is now 90 days past due; while Pappas Enterprises, a real estate developer, owes $295,908, all of it 90 days past due. Neither company returned messages.

The auditors criticized the BRA for lacking a policy to deal with delinquent tenants and a process to evict them.

"We are trying to support businesses and don't want to force anyone out before negotiating an agreement (on back rent)," said BRA spokesman Nicholas Martin. "But at the same time it's clear there was a lack of a standardized protocol on what do to in these situations where the rent goes unpaid for so long."

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US stocks trading higher on company earnings

U.S. financial markets moved higher in afternoon trading Friday as investors welcomed the latest financial results from large U.S. companies. The market was on course to recover after slumping a day earlier.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 80 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,057 as of 1:17 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,972. The Nasdaq composite gained 49 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,413.

GLOBAL CONCERNS: Markets were recovering after stumbling Thursday following the downing of a Malaysian Airlines jetliner in Ukraine and Israel's launch of a ground offensive into Gaza stoked geopolitical uncertainty. The S&P 500 index sank 1.2 percent, its biggest one-day drop since April. All three major stock indexes ended lower for the first time in a week, but remained near record highs and positive for the year.

THE QUOTE: "Clearly the equity market remains remarkably resilient," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "At present the market is looking through the geopolitical concerns, in part because earnings generally have been pretty favorable."

GOOGLE IT: The Internet giant reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue late Thursday. Google's revenue rose 22 percent even as advertising rates continued to drop. Although Google still makes most of its money from Internet searches, the company is generating more revenue from other sources such as YouTube and its "Play" store that sells applications for devices running its Android software. Google's stock added $18.89, or 3.3 percent, to $599.72.

SWEET RESULTS: Honeywell International added $1.48, or 1.6 percent, to $96.65 after reporting that its income rose sharply in the latest quarter and beat investors' forecasts.

COMFORTING REPORT: Knoll jumped 8.7 percent after the furniture and accessories company reported a boost in second-quarter profit and revenue, exceeding Wall Street expectations. The stock added $1.48 to $18.45.

BEATING THE STREET: Semiconductor company Skyworks Solutions surged 14.2 percent as investors cheered its better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and profit outlook. The stock rose $6.57 to $52.91.

TAKING OFF: Several airline stocks rebounded after tumbling a day earlier following the news of the downed Malaysian Airlines airliner. American Airlines Group rose 91 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $42.61, while Delta Air Lines added 61 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $37.18. United Continental gained 46 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $43.81. Southwest Airlines rose 19 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $27.70.

SECTOR WATCH: The 10 sectors in the S&P 500 rose, led by health care. The sector is up 7.4 percent this year. GameStop notched the biggest gain among the 500 companies in the index, rising $2, or 4.9 percent, to $43.25. NVIDIA fell the most, shedding 78 cents, or 4 percent, to $18.52.

CHIPPED: Advanced Micro Devices sank after the chipmaker issued a revenue outlook for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The company reported a narrower loss in its second quarter late Thursday. The stock fell 80 cents, or 17.5 percent, to $3.76.

BONDS AND OIL: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.49 percent from 2.45 percent late Thursday. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 12 cents to $103.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Cutting-edge condos dock in Eastie

An unlikely team of a developer and a contractor from Revere and a Harvard-trained architect is bringing cutting-edge lofts to the East Boston waterfront.

The Marginal Street Lofts, which are adjacent to the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina in Jeffries Point, are the first new Eastie water­front condos in decades.

The contemporary design by Elizabeth Whittaker of Boston's Merge Architects has an unexpected exterior — black corrugated metal, red cedar planks and steel-boxed exterior frames with sides wrapped in stainless-steel mesh. Large front windows maximize un­obstructed views of Boston Harbor from all units.

The nine one-bedroom condos, which are 1,126 to 1,191 square feet, cost $549,000 to $679,000. The higher-priced, upper-floor units have private roof decks with harbor views. Each unit comes with a garage space under the building.

"We're hoping this captures the demographic of Boston buyers who don't want to pay $1 million for a condo with the same square footage as our units, but without views and without parking," Whittaker said.

Revere contractor Anthony DelVecchio, who built some commercial work that Whittaker designed, recommended her to Revere developer Michele Catalano of Tay's Realty LLC.

"I was a little gun-shy about the design, but now that it's done I think it's beautiful," Catalano said.

Realtor Paul Campano brought Catalano the three-lot site, where the developer could have built a row of three-families. But Campano, whose niche is unique properties, prevailed on her to be open-minded about a more contemporary design.

"High design and high quality sell," said Campano of Keller Williams.

Trying to put nine units on a tight site required building up and over central corridors to access rear-facing bedrooms.

"It was a challenge to build, something completely out of the box compared to the work we normally do," said DelVecchio. "It takes more time and it's more expensive."

Units have different configurations. Unit 3, on the market for $599,000, has a kitchen/dining area that steps up to a living room with harbor views. Another half flight up leads to a loft-style bedroom.

Unit 9 has a large open kitchen/living/dining area overlooking the harbor and a rear-facing bedroom. This unit and three others have 500-square-foot private roof decks.

Kitchens have quartz or honed-granite countertops, KraftMaid or Ikea cabinets, GE Cafe stainless-steel appliances and Grohe faucets. Living rooms have built-in gas fireplaces. Bathrooms have porcelain tile floors and white tiled tub and showers. There are white oak floors throughout.

Whittaker, who also teaches­ at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, said the Jeffries Point neighborhood and the Boston Re­development Authority were supportive of her design, and she hopes the project will lead to more contemporary design and perhaps a future brand for Catalano's projects.

"I'm a hands-on devel­oper, on site every day," said Catalano. "It's taken a lot of work to get this done but it's come out looking just like the renderings."

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The Ticker: Market Basket workers plan to walk off job

Market Basket workers plan to walk off job

Some workers at the Market Basket supermarket chain plan to walk off the job today to protest the firing of their former boss at the company's Tewksbury headquarters.

Employees loyal to former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas had written to the new co-chief executives demanding his reinstatement and an answer by 4:30 p.m. yesterday.

Demoulas, a member of the family that owns the privately held chain, lost his job in a long-running battle with a cousin for control.

The new CEOs, Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch, said in a letter to workers yesterday that those who walk off the job could be fired.

They said the power to reinstate Demoulas lies with the board that fired him in June. The board plans a telephone conference Monday to discuss the workers' demand. Employee representatives were invited to participate.

Back-to-school spending may drop

Northeast families with kids in kindergarten through grade 12 will spend an estimated average of $697.38 on back-to-school purchases of clothing, shoes, supplies and electronics this year — about 3 percent less than in 2012, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

But those households still will dole out the most on their children's school needs compared to other U.S. regions.

One reason for the decline could be that local students already are armed with the latest gadgets.

Mass. jobless rate dips to 5.5 percent

The Massachusetts unemployment rate dipped to 5.5 percent in June, the lowest level in nearly six years, the state office of Labor and Workforce Development reported yesterday.

Preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of 
Labor Statistics showed Massachusetts picked up 3,700 jobs last month, officials said.

The latest state report indicated that manufacturing continued to be a soft spot in the Massachusetts economy. The manufacturing sector lost 1,100 jobs in June, and has lost a net 1,600 jobs over the past 12 months.

Fox willing to pay $75B for Time Warner

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. is willing to pay more than $75 billion for Time Warner Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter, a sign Rupert Murdoch is undeterred after being rebuffed in an initial offer for the media company. Time Warner shares soared.

•  Vantage Builders Inc., a general contracting and construction firm based in Waltham, has announced that Ryan LaVangie, left, has joined the firm as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Before joining the firm, he served as the regional manager for Kimball Office, responsible for a sales team covering the New England and Canada markets.

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Study: Odds of not working higher after vision loss

Vision loss is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of not working, particularly among women, diabetics and people under 55, according to a new study.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore studied 19,849 people ages 16 to 74 who completed a vision exam and employment and demographic questionnaires.

"The nature of the study makes it difficult to conclude that poor vision was the cause of an individual's work status," said Dr. Pradeep Ramulu, one of the authors of the study, which appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association Opthamology.

It's possible that some vision problems, such as uncorrected refractive error — difficulty focusing the eye — was actually the result of limited income from not working, Ramulu said.

Researchers found that the odds of not working for visually impaired people were higher for women, diabetics and people younger than 55.

Employment rates for women with visual impairment, difficulty focusing the eye and normal vision, for example, were 24.5 percent, 56 percent and 62.9 percent, respectively, whereas the respective rates for men were 58.7 percent, 66.5 percent and 76.2 percent.

The results underscore the need for job training for people who are visually impaired and programs that encourage employers to hire them, he said.

"It's a need we see here," said Lauren Nisbet, an occupational therapist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. "There's a need for more funding for vocational programs. There's also a liability problem that makes some employers reluctant to hire people with visual impairment."

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Axed Nokia X phones suffered from lack of identity

NEW YORK — The Nokia X phones that Microsoft discontinued this week blend two rival operating systems, but leave out the best of each.

As a result, the devices didn't become a runaway hit as Nokia's low-cost answer to serving emerging markets.

Nokia X phones were devised to be a gateway to the company's pricier Lumia phones. The operating system that runs the phones was to blend the core technology found in Google's Android system with services and designs found in Microsoft's own Windows Phone system. Nokia looked to Android as a way to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavailable on Windows.

But Microsoft completed its deal to buy Nokia's phone business in April, and Nokia X is gone less than three months later.

"Nokia tried to bring the best of both worlds on this device, but once you play around with it, this phone kind of falls short of how fantastic it could be," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst who follows phones.

Although sales figures aren't available, Llamas said his research showed Nokia X was "not the one that everybody seems to be flocking to."

The Nokia X project is an example of clashing priorities that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is trying to curb with a refocusing effort that includes 18,000 job eliminations over the next year. In Thursday's announcement of the cuts, Microsoft said it will shift future Nokia X product designs to its Lumia line of Windows devices.

Although Microsoft Devices chief and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop pinned the move on a need to align Nokia's strategy with Microsoft's, two other factors contributed to the downfall: Nokia X lacked an identity, while Windows got better.

Now, Microsoft is left to target emerging markets with Windows alone.

Nokia and Microsoft had been partners long before Microsoft bought the phone business. To maintain the relationship, Nokia sought to appease Microsoft by replacing many of the Google services on Android with Microsoft's services. Android staples such as Gmail, Google Maps and Google's app store are nowhere to be found. Instead, Nokia X phones have Here Maps from Nokia and Skype and OneDrive from Microsoft. The Nokia X home screen looks nothing like Android, but resembles Windows.

The thinking was that once Nokia X users were ready for higher-end phones, Lumia would be their choice because they are already accustomed to Microsoft services and designs.

But Nokia adapted Android so much that it affected functionality. Software developers had to tweak some of their apps because Nokia X lacks key Google services. For instance, location services have to use Nokia's Here rather than Google Maps. In-app payments also had to be tweaked to allow billing through mobile carriers, something Nokia X enabled because many people in emerging markets lack credit cards.

Meanwhile, even as Nokia adopted the look of Windows, it didn't adopt its ease of use. It was more like a knockoff version of Windows.

Windows devices set themselves apart by offering colorful home-screen tiles stuffed with content. Instead of just a logo of Facebook, for instance, you get the first several words of notifications. For email, you get the email's sender and the start of the subject line, so users know whether there's anything worth opening the app for. Windows also lets you create tiles to serve as shortcuts to specific tasks within apps — such as places you go often using the mapping app.

Nokia X has none of that. Its home-screen tiles are static, like overblown versions of Android icons.

Now, Llamas said, Microsoft is under even more pressure to succeed with Windows in emerging markets. Although recent improvements help, he said, many phone makers by now have settled on Android for cheaper devices.

Nokia X did succeed at keeping prices low. Its four models range from $120 to $150. By contrast, Nokia's Lumia Icon costs $550 without subsidies that come with two-year service contracts. Apple's iPhone 5s and Samsung's Galaxy S5 cost even more.

In killing Nokia X, Microsoft isn't changing Nokia's commitment to serving emerging markets. Microsoft knows those regions are high-growth areas, as many people in the United States and other industrialized markets already have smartphones. Microsoft is also aware that those devices need to be affordable.

The day before Nokia announced its Android phones at a February wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft unveiled plans to update its Windows Phone system. Among other things, the software runs more efficiently, so it doesn't require as much processing power. That update, Windows Phone 8.1, came out in May. Microsoft also began giving the Windows software to phone makers for free, the way Google has with Android. And it relaxed requirements for physical buttons. All that has made Windows phones cheaper to make.

The Nokia X phones do have some good touches, including slots for two SIM cards — something important for emerging markets, where phone rates vary so much that people often switch services depending on whom they are calling or texting. Windows didn't allow that until the May update.

The improvements made to Windows ultimately reduced the need for Nokia X. But even if that hadn't happened, it was doubtful Nokia X would have survived under new owners.

In his memo, Elop pointed out that "the role of phones within Microsoft is different than it was within Nokia."

Nokia's business had been to make phones. With Microsoft, the phones are a way to showcase the company's other offerings in services and software, including the Windows Phone system.

And Nokia X had no role in that.

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Market Basket workers to protest CEO firing

TEWKSBURY  — Some workers at the Market Basket supermarket chain are expected to walk off the job at the company's Tewksbury headquarters in a show of support for their fired boss.

Employees loyal to former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas pressed for his reinstatement in a letter that had a Thursday afternoon deadline.

The new CEOs, Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch, said in a letter to workers Thursday that those who walk away from their jobs could be fired.

Demoulas, a member of the family that owns the privately held chain, lost his job in a long-running battle with a cousin for control.

Thorton and Gooch said the power to reinstate Demoulas lies with the board that fired him in June. The board plans a telephone conference Monday to discuss the workers' demand. Employee representatives were invited.

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AG gets partners deal delay

A judge has again delayed a hearing on the state's controversial settlement with Partners Healthcare over its merger with three smaller hospitals after Attorney General Martha Coakley asked for more time to renegotiate the pact, as a health panel warned the mega-deal could jack up medical costs by as much as $50 million a year.

The next hearing on the deal was pushed back from Aug. 5 to Sept. 29 yesterday after Coakley filed a motion asking for a delay until the state's Health Policy Commission issues a final report on Partners' proposed merger with South Shore Hospital and Hallmark Health System, which operates Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield hospitals.

Coakley suggested yesterday her office could negotiate another agreement with the health care goliath, which employs 6,500 doctors and runs eight acute-care hospitals, including Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's.

"Our office always retained the option to seek to renegotiate portions of this agreement as it relates to Hallmark following a final report by the Health Policy Commission," said spokesman Brad Puffer.

Meanwhile, the state health panel yesterday warned in public comments sent to Coakley that the Partners takeover of the three hospitals would boost costs by between $38.5 million and $49 million for the state's top three insurance companies.

Partners disputes the South Shore Hospital numbers, arguing that savings associated with privately insured patients that the commission failed to calculate would save $158 million.

Coakley's office insists the settlement will control health costs better than any lawsuit could.

Coakley, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, has come under fire from her two rivals over the Partners deal.

Pediatrician Donald Berwick launched an online petition against the settlement this week, which his campaign claims garnered 1,000 signatures in just 24 hours. State Treasurer Steve Grossman yesterday wrote a letter to Coakley, saying: "Your rhetoric as attorney general has emphasized transparency and the lowering of health care costs. But in negotiating this current deal, you have fallen far short of each of those objectives."

Coakley's campaign fired back, saying, "Steve Grossman ... is playing politics by changing his position by the day in a desperate attempt to find another way to attack Martha Coakley, regardless of the facts."

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Shakira, thanks to World Cup, tops 100 million Facebook followers

International pop star Shakira has topped 100 million likes on Facebook, making her the most popular public figure on the social site, after a surge with her song "La La La" for this summer's 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The milestone highlights the power of social media to amass huge audiences -- and connect directly to fans instantly. Shakira posted a thank-you video on Facebook for her fans for the milestone, which had been liked more than 162,000 people within one hour.

On YouTube, the video for "La La La" -- sponsored by Activia yogurt -- has been viewed more than 236 million times.

"Social media and specifically Facebook has helped myself and other artists bridge the gap between the stage and the audience," Shakira said in statement.

On Twitter, which has a smaller user base overall, Shakira has 26.1 million followers.

Shakira's top 20 Facebook posts to date have resulted in 39.7 million likes; her most-liked post was a photo of her posing on the field before the World Cup final with more than 3.5 million likes in four days.

The 37-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter, who is signed to Epic Records, hit 50 million likes in May 2012. Shakira joined Facebook in 2008.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Amazon rolls out 'Netflix-for-books' style service

NEW YORK — Amazon is rolling out a new subscription service that will allow unlimited access to thousands of electronic books and audiobooks for $9.99 a month in the online giant's latest effort to attract more users.

The largest U.S. e-commerce site said Friday that the Kindle Unlimited service will give users the ability to read as much as they want from more than 600,000 Kindle titles such as "The Hunger Games" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." They can also listen as much as they like to thousands of Audible audiobooks, including "Water for Elephants."

The service will offer about 2,000 audiobooks from Audible with Whispersync for Voice, which lets users switch between reading and listening to books. Subscribers will get a free three-month membership to the broader Audible service, which has 150,000 titles.

Amazon is offering a free 30-day trial to entice users to try the service. The move is a switch from Amazon's latest efforts, which have largely focused on adding services to its Prime loyalty program. The company has recently launched a video streaming box and grocery delivery service, unveiled plans for a smartphone and expanded its Sunday delivery service, all for members of Prime. But Kindle Unlimited is for anyone with a Kindle device or app.

Americans have a growing appetite for e-books. In the U.S., 79 million people will use e-book readers in 2014, up nearly 9 percent from 72 million in 2013, according to eMarketer. People age 45 to 54 are the biggest readers of e-books this year.

Amazon's move comes at an uneasy time for the company and its relationship with publishers, because it has been in a public squabble with Hachette over e-book prices. Amazon did not disclose the terms it worked out with publishers who are part of Kindle Unlimited.

Some major publishers aren't involved. Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon and Schuster confirmed they are not part of the service, while Penguin Random House declined to comment. Macmillan did not respond to a query for comment.

Still, the service offers a selection of high-profile titles, including the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the "Harry Potter" series and classics like Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men" and George Orwell's "Animal Farm."

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said even if the big publishers aren't involved yet, the service is a necessary step for Amazon.

"People prefer subscription access to digital media," he said, citing music service Spotify and movie- and TV- streaming service Netflix as examples.

"Someone is going to figure out how to build a consumer brand around subscription books and force publishers to participate, and Amazon can't afford for it not to be Amazon."

Seattle-based Amazon is not the first company to offer a "Netflix for books"-style monthly service: Scribd offers a service for $8.99 a month for access to 400,000 books. Oyster offers 500,000 books for $9.95 a month. Unlike Kindle Unlimited, both services offer HarperCollins books, among other publishers.

But Amazon is the biggest company to roll out the service and has the advantage of having a dedicated base of users through its Kindle devices and Kindle app, which runs on most wireless devices.

Even so, some analysts are skeptical. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that paying $9.99 a month for the service doesn't make sense for someone who reads roughly one book a month. And for more avid readers, the limited book selection might be disappointing, he said.

"Amazon is throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks," he said.

A Kindle Unlimited logo will be attached to eligible titles. The subscription service is available beginning Friday and is accessible via Kindle devices or with Amazon's free Kindle reading apps.

Amazon's stock rose $5.22 to $357.67 in midday trading.

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