Tire distributor buys Waipahu warehouse

California-based wholesale tire distributor and exporter East Bay Tire Co. has purchased the 60,390-square-foot West Waipahu Center in fee simple for $2.8 million.

First Hawaiian Bank foreclosed on the previous owner, developer Tom Enomoto, last year. The steel warehouse was built in 1984 on one acre at 94-299 Farrington Highway, and previously leased to the state Department of Education. Colliers Monroe Friedlander brokered the sale to East Bay Tire.

East Bay Tire, founded in 1946, wholesales tires to Hawaii retailers at a warehouse in Mapunapuna.

Atlantis promotes Williams to CEO

Ronald Williams has been elected president and chief executive of Atlantis Adventures, owner of Atlantis Submarines and Navatek Cruises and manager of Sea Life Park and Waimea Falls Park.

Williams, a former executive of Tropical Rent-A-Car, joined Atlantis in 1995 as general manager of Maui operations for Atlantis submarines. His new position was vacated by Darrell Metzger, who left Atlantis earlier this year to join Hilo Hattie as president and CEO.

State insurance division reaccredited for 5 years

The state Insurance Division has received a five-year accreditation from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Accreditation can be granted for anywhere from one to five years.

Accredited state insurance regulatory agencies are required to undergo an extensive review every five years by an independent review team to insure they meet baseline standards. Hawaii was first accredited in 1996.

The accreditation standards require that state agencies have adequate statutory and administrative authority to regulate an insurer's cooperate affairs. The objective of the accreditation program is to provide a process where solvency regulation of multistate insurance companies can be enhanced and adequately monitored.

Doris Duke Foundation sues law firm over estate

Los Angeles >> Trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation sued a law firm for allegedly giving a portion of the late tobacco heiress' estate to a charitable group she did not want in her will.

The Trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation claim that the law firm of Katten Muchin Zavis wrote Doris Duke's 1993 will in such a way that it wrongfully included The Duke Endowment, a charity created by her father in 1924.

The professional negligence and breach of contract suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks $5.8 million in damages.

Duke was the only child of James B. Duke, founder of the American Tobacco Co. She died at age 80 in 1993. Her estate includes a mansion on Oahu's Black Point.

In other news ...

With the all-time box office record already assured, the movie industry has hopes that heavy attendance from the past weekend and Christmas Day will edge it past the $8 billion barrier in domestic grosses for the first time in history.