Houston Chronicle

Space leased in historic building

- From staff and wire reports

One of downtown’s oldest buildings will house the city’s newest co-working space.

Dallas-based Foundry Club has leased 13,644 square feet in a historic redevelopm­ent called Main & Co. in the 100 block of Main Street.

Several buildings along this stretch of lower Main are being redevelope­d by Zimmerman Interests.

Foundry Club will be the latest co-working space to open downtown.

Ryan Hoopes and Tom Sutherland of Colliers Internatio­nal Group represente­d Foundry Club in its lease with building owner Dan Zimmerman of Zimmerman Interests.

French leader wants pact on ‘posted workers’

BUCHAREST, Romania — French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he is “convinced” European Union member states will reach an agreement by year-end on over so-called posted workers — cheap labor from Eastern Europe posted temporaril­y to more prosperous European countries.

Macron praised Romania’s will to “work together” with France on the issue after his talks with Romania’s president.

Posted workers from Eastern European nations including Romania and Poland continue to pay into the tax and social security systems of their home countries, allowing employers to hire them for less than in Western countries where welfare costs are higher.

Macron wants to require companies to pay posted and local workers the same salaries and limit postings abroad to up to one year.

Growing number of EU citizens leaving Britain

LONDON — Net migration to Britain has fallen to a three-year low as a growing number of European Union citizens have left the country after last year’s Brexit referendum.

Data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics provides evidence that the uncertaint­y and economic jitters caused by Britain’s vote to quit the EU are deterring immigrants and sparking a “Brexodus.”

A total of 122,000 EU citizens left Britain in the year to March, up 31,000 from the year before and the highest outflow in nearly a decade.

There was a particular­ly sharp rise in departures from citizens of the “EU 8” — the Eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004.

LG Electronic­s starts building Tennessee plant

CLARKSVILL­E, Tenn. — LG Electronic­s on Thursday broke ground at the site of the South Korean appliance manufactur­er’s first washing machine plant in the United States.

The 1 million-squarefoot facility in Clarksvill­e is projected to cost $250 million and create 600 new jobs. Located about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the site was selected after a six-year national search.

The plant is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2019, and it is designed to be able to produce a fully assembled washing machine every 10 seconds. The company said the highly automated facility will also be able to shift production of models within four minutes.

Company and local officials were joined at the groundbrea­king by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. Corker praised President Donald Trump and his Cabinet for fostering investment in the U.S.

‘Star Wars’ marketing soon to hit light speed

The marketing machine for the latest Star Wars movie will officially rev to life Sept. 1.

Toys from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which opens Dec. 15, hit the shelves in stores that day. But on what is being billed as Force Friday II, fans with the Star Wars app will be able to find digital characters from the movie. The augmented reality ploy is similar to Pokemon Go, sending fans on a smartphone treasure hunt for characters superimpos­ed in their real-world surroundin­gs.

The digital characters are connected to displays found in stores selling the toys. New characters will be revealed each day Sept. 1-3, Disney has said, and there will be 15 in all.

30-year rate for mortgages at a low for year

WASHINGTON — The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate is at new low for the year, touching its lowest level since last November.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 3.86 percent from 3.89 percent last week. It was the fourth straight weekly decline for the key rate. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate home loans remained at 3.16 percent this week.

 ?? Downtown Redevelopm­ent Authority ?? The Brewster, Rafael and Dorrance buildings at 108, 110 and 114 Main. Foundry Club has leased space in Main & Co. in the 100 block of Main Street.
Downtown Redevelopm­ent Authority The Brewster, Rafael and Dorrance buildings at 108, 110 and 114 Main. Foundry Club has leased space in Main & Co. in the 100 block of Main Street.

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