AUSTIN-Conn's appliance and home electronics is eyeballing Austin to expand its operations, hoping to find sites for five more stores. The city's robust economy and per capita income have set the hook for the expansion.

LOS ANGELES-Consultant says bond agreements at massive municipal utility pose difficult problem.

ATLANTA-The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. is negotiating to develop a 200-room hotel with million dollar-plus condominiums on the upper floors, smack dab in the middle of Midtown. The site is Midtown Square at Peachtree and Tenth Streets, a planned 2 million-sf mixed-use project by Dewberry Capital Corp. The estimated construction cost of the hotel shell alone is $40 million.