Building comes alive with AGH personnel
The tortured saga of the North Side's Federal Street North building took a turn for the better at yesterday's official opening of the 200,000-square-foot structure.

The building was built in the mid-1990s at the behest of Allegheny General when the hospital had ambitious plans to make it the home for an expanded biomedical research program and the centerpiece of a redevelopment of the Federal Street corridor.

Those plans fell apart when AGH's parent went into bankruptcy in 1998. Last year, Madison Realty Group and Silk and Stewart Development Group purchased the building from a Japanese bank for $14.5 million, in exchange for AGH's agreement to lease space.

The hospital now houses 250 people there in labs and the fields of orthopedic surgery, digestive health, urology and integrated medicine. The building is 70 percent occupied.

Airline offers special military fares
US Airways has begun offering special discount fares for military personnel returning to the United States from the Middle East under the military's Rest and Relaxation program. The discounts are available to military personnel on R&R for travel through Sept. 14, 2004, on round-trip flights originating at Baltimore/Washington International Airport -- the entry point for servicemen and women on R&R -- to destinations throughout the United States. The special fares don't require an advance purchase or minimum stay. The tickets are fully refundable. Ticket prices don't include federal excise taxes or airport passenger and security fees. For more information, contact .

Seec faces delisting of stock
Seec Inc. said yesterday that Nasdaq intended to delist its common stock from the Nasdaq National Market on Tuesday because Seec does not comply with a minimum of $10 million in stockholders equity. The Findlay-based company said it might appeal the decision by filing by Friday a request for a hearing. Seec said its stock would continue to trade pending a final decision by Nasdaq.

Investors take stake in Tube City
Blue Point Capital Partners has purchased a majority interest in Tube City, a Glassport company that provides scrap management and other services to the steel industry. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Tube City was founded in 1926 and has annual revenue of more than $500 million. It employs about 1,000. In addition to its headquarters, it has a brokerage office in Glassport and a scrap yard in West Mifflin. Blue Point has offices in Cleveland; Charlotte, N.C.; and Seattle.

Also in business ...
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at area self-serve pumps fell 3.8 cents this week to $1.561 from the previous week, AAA East Central reported ... Highmark Inc. said its Keystone Blue and Select Blue health plans again earned the highest rating that the National Committee for Quality awards. The plans have held NCQA's "excellent" accreditation status since 2000 ... Marconi Corp. PLC announced the sale of several multiservice switcher-routers valued at about $9 million to the U.S. government. More details were not made public ... Pittsburgh-based Confluence announced the introduction of Performance Reporting Service, which assists financial service companies in meeting new Securities and Exchange Commission requirements for reporting performance results to shareholders.