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The News in Brief

Financial Title closes

SANTA ROSA – The Financial Title Co. offices in four states, including one in Santa Rosa and 45 others in the greater Bay Area, closed last week.

The closure is the result of Financial Title Co.’s parent company, Colorado-based Mercury Cos., deciding to close all offices in Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada.

News reports said the decision followed a move on the part of Mercury’s lenders to pull the company’s line of credit.

A recorded message at the Santa Rosa Financial Title on College Avenue advised callers that it was no longer in business and referred them to First American Title.

Health club planned at Basin Street property

PETALUMA – A San Francisco-based operator of upscale family health clubs and corporate wellness programs in North America plans to open its first North Bay club in Petaluma early next year, an operation set to be one of the largest north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Clubsource Development Partners inked a deal with Basin Street Properties to open one of its Club One clubs in a custom-built two-story structure to front the east side of Highway 101 just south of Old Redwood Highway.

When the club opens, scheduled for the first quarter of 2009, the 40,000-square-foot facility will feature two pools, a two-story water slide, fitness equipment, three group exercise studios, childcare center, youth sports center, spa and community meeting rooms.

“There are not really any regulation pools in Petaluma, so this is a great opportunity for the community,” said Basin Street Properties Vice President Scott Stranzl.

Club One operates 14 locations in Northern California, five Frog’s Fitness centers in Southern California and manages 60-plus fitness and wellness programs for eBay, Motorola, AOL and Chevron. The 16-year-old company has 2,400 employees in 78 locations and had revenues of $76.3 million last year.

The Petaluma club will be located in the second building to be built in Basin Street’s Redwood Business Center development at the southwest corner of North McDowell Boulevard and Old Redwood Highway.

The first building was completed last year and is occupied by companies such as Cyan Optics and Glass Mountain Capital, with 31,400 square feet still available. The club building originally was designed to be a 60,000-square-foot office building but was redesigned by the Gensler firm.

Two more office buildings of 56,000 and 90,000 square feet are planned.

Basin Street is negotiating a club discount for its tenants, as it has worked out with its hospitality properties, including Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma, according to Mr. Stranzl.

Greg Moss of NAI BT Commercial represented Clubone in the long-term lease deal.

KN Karen Neuburger merges with Texas firm

SAN RAFAEL – Comfortwear producer KN Karen Neuburger, which in 1994 started as a home-based sleepwear business and now has topped $100 million in annual sales, merged with Texas-based intimate apparel giant Russell-Newman.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. KN President Dustin Eber will remain president of the brand at the 40-employee office in San Rafael.

Founder Karen Neuburger retired as a fashion buyer, merchandise manager and sportswear designer in the late 1980s when she realized a market for her “all-day pajamas,” which became her first product in 1994. She got her first break a few years later when she was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s show. Later the company diversified into sportswear, intimate apparel and home accessories.

Russell-Newman is owned by Fairfield, Conn.-based private-equity firm Industrial Renaissance. Russell-Newman sells branded items such as St. Eve clothing and Tommy Hilfiger sleepwear and robes in stores in 20 countries.

Napa winery seeks LEED

NAPA VALLEY – The PlumpJack Group’s latest project, Cade Winery in Angwin, is scheduled to open this summer and is seeking gold-level LEED certification. Green features include solar power, organic farming and building materials composed on concrete with 30 percent fly ash, steel made with 98 percent recycled material and Forest Stewardship Council-certified glass and wood.

Architect Juan Carlos Fernandez of Lail Design Group in St. Helena designed the winery building, hospitality building and wine cave. He was also the designer for Crichton Hall Winery and Rudd Winery’s executive offices.

Cade will produce sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon sourced from local vineyards as well as an estate cabernet sauvignon.