A new Costco warehouse and gas station are one step closer to coming to Downey, California, after city leaders approved a development agreement for the project, though not everyone is convinced the area needs another location.

The Downey City Council recently voted to move forward with plans for the new warehouse on Firestone Boulevard. City officials say the development is expected to create hundreds of jobs and generate new revenue for public services.

Mayor Pro Tem Horacio Ortiz Jr. praised the project in an Instagram post, calling it an investment in the city’s future.

“The Costco project will create hundreds of jobs, generate new revenue for essential city services, and strengthen our city’s future,” Ortiz Jr. wrote.

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A man pushes a trolley outside a Costco supermarket in Los Angeles, the United States, March 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Qian Weizhong via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The announcement drew mixed reactions from residents, with several questioning why another Costco is needed when warehouses already operate in nearby cities of Norwalk and Lakewood.

“Do y’all really need a Costco when the one at Norwalk is a 15 minute drive away?” one commenter wrote.

Another added, “We want a Trader Joe’s not another Costco.”

Others welcomed the project, arguing nearby Costco locations are often overcrowded and difficult to navigate.

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A Costco store in Vallejo, California, on Thursday, May 29, 2025.  (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

“The Norwalk Costco has been a nightmare since they redid the parking lot,” another resident wrote. “Happy to welcome one to Downey.”

According to local reports, the project includes relocating the existing Downey Nissan dealership before construction begins on the new Costco. The warehouse and gas station would be built on roughly 13.6 acres that include the former All American Home Center site and the current dealership property.

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The redevelopment package is expected to cost about $10.5 million and involves Costco Wholesale Corp., Downey Nissan and the owners of the surrounding properties.

The retailer still faces several steps before construction can begin. The project must complete a California Environmental Quality Act review and the city’s entitlement process, which officials expect to take up to a year. Construction of the relocated dealership and the new Costco warehouse would follow, putting the store’s opening several years away.

In the Nifty 500 pack, 15 stocks saw their closing prices cross above their 200-day moving average (DMA) on July 1, 2026. Of these, we have highlighted the top 9 stocks that gained more than 3% in the previous trading session, according to StockEdge.com’s technical scan data. Traders use the 200-day daily moving average (DMA) as a key indicator to determine the overall trend in a particular stock. As long as the stock is priced above the 200-day SMA on the daily timeframe, it is generally considered to be in an overall uptrend. Take a look:

Under SEBI’s T+1 settlement cycle, investors must purchase a company’s shares at least one trading day before the record date to ensure the shares are credited to their demat accounts in time, and they become eligible for the corporate action. Therefore, today is the last opportunity for investors to buy the shares so that they are credited to their accounts by Friday, making them eligible for the dividends.

Mahindra & Mahindra dividend

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is among the most notable names on the list. The automaker has fixed Friday as the record date for its highest-ever final dividend worth Rs 33 per share. This comes after the company paid a dividend worth Rs 25 last year and Rs 21 in 2024.

The XUV and Scorpio maker has declared 28 dividends since May, 2001. The stock has a dividend yield of 0.81%.

Tech Mahindra has also fixed Friday as the record date for its final dividend of Rs 36 per share. Union Bank of India and Shriram Finance meanwhile will turn ex-record date for their respective final dividend of Rs 5 per share and Rs 6 per share.

Bharat Forge will pay a dividend of Rs 6.5 per share, while Escorts Kubota will pay a dividend of Rs 33 per share. Max Healthcare, Raymond Realty and Redington meanwhile will turn ex-record date for dividend payouts worth Rs 2, Rs 2 and Rs 6 respectively.

Also read: Kajaria Ceramics share buyback worth Rs 297 crore opens on July 3 | Entitlement ratio, other details to know

Other stocks turning ex-record date for dividends

Swaraj Engines accounts for the highest dividend payout at Rs 110 per share, followed by JSW Dulux at Rs 50 per share.

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Other companies which will effectively turn ex-record date for their respective dividends tomorrow include Akum Drugs (final dividend of Rs 1 per share and special dividend of Rs 2 per share), Alufluoride (Rs 4 per share), Balaji Amines (Rs 11 per share), BF Investment (Rs 10 per share), Biocon (Rs 0.5 per share), Can Fin Homes (Rs 8 per share), Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries (Rs 1.5 per share), DCM Shriram Industries (Rs 0.4 per share), Exide Industries (Rs 2 per share), Gloster (Rs 20 per share), Greenlam Industries (Rs 0.4 per share), Indus Finance (Rs 0.6 per share), Kirloskar Pneumatic Company (Rs 8.5 per share), Onward Technologies (Rs 8 per share), Sagarsoft (Rs 1.5 per share), SKF India Industrial (Rs 10 per share), SKF India (Rs 40 per share), SML Mahindra (Rs 23.5 per share), Thermax (final dividend of Rs 14 per share and special dividend of Rs 6 per share), Transcorp International (Rs 0.4 per share), Welspun Enterprises (Rs 3 per share) and Siddhika Coatings (Rs 4 per share).

Also read: Nomura expects IT firms to see ‘anaemic’ growth in FY27. Here are latest target prices for Infosys, TCS, and others
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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Companies in the private sector added 98,000 jobs in June, payroll processing firm ADP said in its latest report on Wednesday.

The figure is below economists’ estimates of a gain of 118,000 jobs and down from the prior month’s unrevised 122,000 payrolls figure.

Which industries are hiring the most workers, according to the ADP report?

Education and health services added 48,000 positions, leading job creation in June. Trade, transportation and utilities added 15,000, financial activities gained 14,000 and other services added 8,000.

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Education and health services led hiring in the month of June, according to ADP. (iStock)

Information added 7,000 jobs, while manufacturing added 5,000. Leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and construction each added 2,000 jobs.

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On the negative side, natural resources and mining lost 5,000 jobs.

People staying in their roles saw their pay climb 4.4% from the prior year, while pay gains for those changing their jobs accelerated to 6.6%.

U.S. private payrolls climbed by 98,000 in June, ADP said on Wednesday. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

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What experts are saying about the June 2026 ADP National Employment Report

“The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. “We know it’s taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries. For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.”

Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel planted a record-setting flag in Miami’s financial core, signing a historic $250-per-square-foot office lease that experts say marks a transition of the West Coast tech exodus from what began as a residential trend into a broader corporate takeover.

As multibillion-dollar liquidity events loom for companies like SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, tech creators and founders are no longer just buying beachfront homes — they are anchoring corporate operations in a booming South Florida commercial ecosystem that insiders describe as “on fire.”

“Peter Thiel in signing that lease, marking a milestone of $250 square foot, absolutely incredible,” DaGrosa Capital Partners founder and chair Joe DaGrosa told Fox News Digital. “With the signing of that lease, it’d probably take a year or two for a build out. Once that build-out occurs, not just Peter, but his entire team will be coming to Miami, and that entire team will be buyers of homes or renters of homes. So you can see how that has a virtuous-cycle effect of going from commercial to residential.”

“The entire region is just on fire,” Blanca Commercial Real Estate founder, chair and CEO Tere Blanca also told Fox Digital. “With billionaires like Larry Page and Peter Thiel and Sergey Brin and others that have taken residency here, what we expect is that they will continue to grow their footprints in the region, as has always been the case, when people migrate to Miami.”

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The migration of California companies to South Florida has followed a residential wealth exodus, according to DaGrosa and Blanca. Miami’s 55-story office tower 830 Brickell, which will welcome Thiel’s family office, houses companies including Citadel, Microsoft and Thoma Bravo.

The building, left, that houses the Thoma Bravo, Citadel and soon Peter Thiel’s family office at 830 Brickell Plaza in Miami, Florida, on March 5, 2025. (Getty Images)

Prior to the post-pandemic boom, Class A office space in Brickell typically leased for about $40 to $60 per square foot, DaGrosa noted. Thiel’s reported $250-per-square-foot lease set a local record, competing directly with top-tier rates in markets such as Manhattan and San Francisco.

“Office space is just like anything else. [It] will be priced based on how much supply and how much demand exists,” Blanca said. “And so with the flight to quality that we’ve experienced in office, even before the pandemic, there is a lot of competition to acquire the best-in-class office space, the best located buildings in areas that feel very familiar to these companies and their executives that are moving here from major cities around the country.”

With California officially putting a billionaire wealth tax on the ballot, tech founders and institutional leaders are looking at the quantitative numbers, as Florida provides a defensive shelter where capital can be deployed without aggressive state intervention.

“It’s both a quantitative and a qualitative discussion, and those two points go hand in hand. From a quantitative point of view, there’s a significant tax savings opportunity at the state-level by moving to Miami,” DaGrosa said. 

“The concern, certainly on the part of a lot of Californians, it’s a wonderful lifestyle out there. Would they be sacrificing lifestyle, the qualitative side of things, for the benefits of the quantitative side? I think they’ve come to realize that they can have the best of both,” he continued, “tax savings and a great quality of life here that rivals, and I would argue surpasses, many parts of California.”

“Companies like Palantir that announced headquarters moved to Miami, Peter Thiel being here, is a… statement to other states about the business practices that make Florida so attractive that they’re not seeing in the places where they were residing,” Blanca added.

“With that influx in capital, states can do more, the county and the city can do more to help their constituents. So I view it as a big positive. It’s just more money to go around to improve the quality of life for everyone who’s living here.”

– Joe DaGrosa

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Critics have argued that Florida lacks the deep engineering talent of Silicon Valley. However, the experts believe local tech hubs are actively shifting. The Miami-Dade Beacon Council reports that tech employment across the county has grown about 25% over the last few years, making it one of the top metro areas for tech job growth in America.

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There’s also notable case studies like Iru — the AI-powered IT and security management firm formerly known as Kandji — a San Francisco-born tech firm that tripled its Miami physical footprint post-pandemic.

“I think that the technology business in Miami should not be compared to, ‘Oh, this is the next Silicon Valley?’” Blanca said. “Miami has its own dynamic and its own opportunity to become a place for founders and entrepreneurs to succeed… And, to protect companies trying to rebuild that in-person culture, Miami is the place to make it happen, right? We have the highest return to office in the country, I think only second to Manhattan. So it really feels like a vibrant and dynamic community for them to attract the right talent and to cultivate the right talents here.”

“I think the rank and file [employees] have to follow the executives, ultimately. If for no other reason, you need face time with your boss to prove your worth,” DaGrosa said. “So I think you’re going to see a lot of folks following these tech giants. And as evidenced by the increased costs in commercial space, it’s being driven up by the fact that these guys want to bring in their teams.”

Rapid growth brings local challenges, including rising housing costs, supply bottlenecks and heavier traffic. However, leaders in Florida’s public and private sectors say they’re working together to address those challenges as corporate investment continues.

“The city’s doing a good job of expediting permitting,” DaGrosa applauded. “That was a big problem for a long time, but that’s changed quite a bit under former Mayor Francis Suarez and the commissioners from Miami-Dade County… Miami has adapted to the needs of the folks who are coming in here.”

“Live Local [Act] that was passed by the legislature about three or four years ago is continuing to evolve to provide that relief that we need in terms of facilitating the development of projects that address workforce housing,” Blanca said. “But more importantly, I think that we have a community that is very aware of the challenges that we can have and is very proactive at coming up with solutions with government support to address these challenges.”

“When those projects deliver, we will see that we’ll be in a much better place to check the box as a place where, yes, we have billionaires, and we have great global companies moving here; and yes, you can also bring your employees and your executives here because there is a solution to accommodate all of them at various price points,” she continued.

As traditional zones like Brickell face massive premium constraints, corporate wealth is decentralizing to the north and south. With multi-million square foot Class A projects delivering across the tri-county Gold Coast corridor, the two insiders say Florida is on a path toward global market dominance.

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“With that influx in capital, states can do more, the county and the city can do more to help their constituents. So I view it as a big positive. It’s just more money to go around to improve the quality of life for everyone who’s living here,” DaGrosa said.

“It’s a natural evolution of what we have seen, even before COVID, where the Sun Belt in general is just experiencing a migration that is phenomenal,” Blanca added. “And there’s opportunity for all cities in the Sun Belt, major cities across the Sun Belt, and for cities around the country to continue to thrive irrespective of what is happening here.”

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