Pictured is a rendering of what a treehouse built by the Treehouse Project would look like.The Treehouse Project is on track to build the world’s first treehouse certified as a “living building” through the International Living Building Future Institute.
On Tuesday, the Chattanooga-based startup said it had raised more than $34,000. Its Kickstarter funding goal was to raise $33,333 by today.
The Treehouse Project wants to build at least eight units within three years at the foot of Lookout Mountain, below Rock City, as vacation retreats that include showers, toilets and internet service. Company owners Andrew Alms and Enoch Elwell plan to build the first one themselves early next year.
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Home building drops 1.6 percent
Construction of new homes fell slightly in November, reflecting weakness in construction of single-family homes.
Builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million homes and apartments last month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That was a decline of 1.6 percent from October when construction activity had posted a 1.7 percent gain.
The weakness last month came from a 5.4 percent fall in construction of single-family homes, which offset a 6.7 percent rise in the more volatile apartment sector.
Applications for building permits also were down in November, falling 5.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.04 million. Analysts still are looking for housing to regain momentum in 2015, believing that strong increases in employment will help boost home sales.
Economists called the November decline in construction disappointing but said part of the drop was probably caused by cold and snowy weather in many parts of the country. It was the coldest November in 14 years.
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IKEA plans Memphis unit
IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, said Tuesday it plans to build a store in Memphis that could increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Southeastern United States.
Pending governmental approvals, the new 269,00-square-foot outlet — the first IKEA store in Tennessee — could open as early as the fall of 2016 in the Wolfchase corridor, 15 miles east of downtown Memphis. The closest IKEA store now is in Atlanta.
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Fiat’s Chrysler renamed FCA US
Chrysler Group LLC has changed its name to FCA US LLC.
The change will be largely unnoticed by consumers, affecting mostly corporate and financial communications. Chrysler-branded cars will continue to bear the Chrysler badge, as those branded Fiat will bear the Fiat badge.
The move was part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ renaming of its mass-market brands. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles becomes FCA Italy SpA.
The automaker said Tuesday that the name change follows the naming convention of its parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., which adopted its name in October when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Chrysler and its Italian owner Fiat SpA merged earlier this year. Fiat was granted management control and a 20 percent stake in Chrysler after it emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2009.
FCA US has more than 77,000 employees worldwide and runs 36 manufacturing plants, including 23 in the U.S.
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RadioShack changes CFO
RadioShack has a new interim chief financial officer, again.
The struggling Fort Worth-based consumer electronics chain said last week that it planned to slash operating costs by $400 million including moves that will save $41 million on professional fees.
RadioShack said Tuesday that it entered into an agreement for advisory and interim management services with FTI Consulting.
As part of that agreement, Carlin Adrianopoli becomes interim CFO, succeeding Holly Etlin who has been interim CFO since September. Etlin is a managing director of AlixPartners and a longtime RadioShack adviser. She was interim CFO from July 2013 until John Feray was appointed to the job in February and left in September.
Adrianopoli, 39, has been a senior management director in FTI’s corporate financing and restructuring practice since 2010 and joined the FTI in 2002.
His experience includes working with various creditor classes, equity owners and directors of underperforming companies. RadioShack first warned in September that it may need to reorganize under the protection of bankruptcy court.