UPPER GWYNEDD, PA-Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. has notified the state of Pennsylvania it intends to eliminate 500 jobs at its West Point facility here during the Christmas holidays.

LODI, NJ-Convenience story chains Quick Check, 7-Eleven and Wawa have identified northern New Jersey as a growth market and have been aggressively opening stores in the region to take advantage of what they say are very favorable demographics.

PITTSBURGH-The former Federal Reserve Bank building in downtown Pittsburgh will be converted into a Drury Inn & Suites hotel.

NEW YORK CITY-The chairman of Greenland Holding Group, the Chinese investment firm that recently acquired a 70% stake in the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, says the mega-project will be done by 2021.

NEW YORK CITY- Fresenius Medical Care North America will be opening a 17,000-square-foot location at Simone Development's Metro Center Atrium complex in the Bronx.

NEW YORK CITY-Residents of Manhattan's largest apartment complex-Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village-received some unwelcome news recently-notices that mid-lease rent increases are on the way.

WASHINGTON, DC-Now that its high-profile $250-million sale to Amazon Inc. fonder Jeff Bezos has closed, the Washington Post is back in the market conducting a search for new headquarters space.

BALTIMORE-After a consultant's report says the hotel property's fortunes are beginning to get brighter, city officials on Thursday ruled out selling the money-losing Hilton Baltimore convention hotel.