A long-vacant bank building at a prime downtown intersection is about to be razed. In its place: A parking lot.

A Palo Alto company that owns the parcel across from Downtown Plaza has obtained city permission to demolish the former Sacramento Savings Bank, which has been sitting vacant for about 15 years.

If approvals are given this week by the city's design director, the three-story bank building will be bulldozed and the site repaved and landscaped. It'll be used for parking – only by tenants and guests of the 455 Capitol Mall office building.

Both 455 and the bank building at 424 L St. are owned by related corporate entities based in Palo Alto, according to property records.

Company officials – and the building managers at 455 Capitol Mall – declined to comment on the parking lot plans.

But city documents provide a few details, including the fact the project won't create much new parking.

The existing 82 spaces will be removed during demolition. The completed lot will have 98 spaces – along with outdoor seating, fountains, landscaping and walkways.

The city report also indicates the parking lot is temporary. Long-term plans, the report says, call for the site to eventually be developed.

Stimulus package: When the going gets tough in commercial real estate, the tough ... pull out their incentives.

Case in point: Owners of a large office complex in Roseville are offering $500 to brokers who bring in large-scale clients to tour the two existing buildings.

"Frankly, this is breaking new ground," says Cornish & Carey exec John Frisch, whose company is representing the Highland Pointe Corporate Center, at Highway 65 and Pleasant Grove Boulevard in Roseville. Usually, he says, broker incentives range from "zero to $100."

Are brokers who receive such incentives under any obligation to disclose them to clients?

Frisch says he would. But he says it's not required and many brokers would never say a word.

Why not?

Because, Frisch says jokingly, disclosing broker incentives would prompt a quick response from many clients: "They'd want to split it with you."

Signs of life: Speaking of Highland Pointe, leasing is going well – considering how hard the once-booming Roseville market has been hammered by the business downturn.

The project's second building, completed in March, is now a quarter full following last week's signing of CPA firm Gallina LLP for 20,000 square feet, plus another deal last month with California Bank & Trust for 5,000 square feet.

The building became available "at the bottom of the market," says Gretchen Lindemann Tobin, who handles leasing for property owner Mourier Land Investment Corp.

In that light, she says, "We're extremely thrilled with the progress."

The name game: A Chico company with a promising treatment for toenail fungus now has a new name.

Say adios to UVaCide Corp. and hello to PathoLase Inc.

The old moniker was confusing, says company founder John Strisower, because the firm's laser treatments use infrared light, not ultraviolet (or UV) light.

Strisower came up with the new name, which combines the words "pathogen" and "laser."

The Chico exec has some experience with name changes. Years ago he founded AdExpedia Inc., which helped newspapers incorporate ads into their Web sites. He soon received a trademark infringement claim from online travel agency Expedia Inc., which was then owned by Microsoft Corp.

Instead of getting into a costly legal battle with Expedia and Microsoft, Strisower opted to rename his firm.

"We saw the size of the chips they had on the table," he says, "and we folded."

Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.