SMART MONEY

Sweet deals are made of these

If ever a new venture needed a financial negotiator, we'd like Scott Wallace on our side. Who? You know, the president of Hollywood Theaters, which is closing its discount, second-run movie house at Restaurant Row after Aug. 9.

The company will get a cool $2.45 million just for ending its lease early with Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. That'll be the end of a savvy deal that actually began in 1993, when the original lease was struck, in which Wallace's Hollywood Theaters pays just $1 a year to occupy the property. With validated free parking for patrons, too, no less.

The nine-screen facility still had 40 years remaining on its lease when Wallace last week said that Pacific Office Properties, which wants to reposition, had “;made us an offer we couldn't refuse.”;

Almost $2.5 million for going away? That would be hard to refuse.

TIME OUT

Is rush-hour traffic really over by 5:30?

Afternoon rush hour traffic is never very much fun. Out the door from a day of slaving in the salt mines, and into the roiling mob of vehicular fortitude that is seemingly all of Oahu crammed into too few lanes.

Extra lanes are opened for a brief window from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. when parking is banned along major arteries. But maybe, just maybe, 5:30 p.m. is too early to close off these lanes.

It seems that many people are just finishing work at 5 or 5:30, so it might make sense to extend the time to 6, or even 6:30 p.m., in an effort to keep the roadways running a little smoother. We're just sayin'.