March 5, 1998

Carl D'Aquino discusses his design for Manhattan apartment of young couple, a project on which he had strict budget and less than sumptuous space; photos (M)

First Union Corp says it will buy Money Store Inc in $2.1 billion stock swap that creates largest home-equity lender in the country; home-equity loans, which allow borrowers to tap into equity stakes they have built up in their homes, have grown quickly with lower interest rates and greater acceptance of debt by consumers; Federal Deposit Corp reports home-equity debt totaled about $96 billion at end of third-quarter last year, up from $85.3 billion for all of 1996; Money Store deal seen bringing measure of conservatism to lower end of consumer finance industry, which has been impacted over last year by earnings problems related to overly optimistic accounting practices; Money Store, which specializes in lending to people with troubled credit histories, is one of more visible lenders in so-called subprime market; until recently, subprime market has been enormously profitable, and large banks see subprime lending as growth opportunity; market analyst says acquisition makes strategic sense for First Union because of the fight for the consumer now taking place in banking; analysts expect further consolidation in consumer finance businesses; chart on leading bank home equity lenders and non-bank home equity lenders (L)

Jason McCoy, Manhattan art dealer recently separated from wife, designs loft apartment for himself on lower Broadway; photos (M)

Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp, Rockville, Md, has run into problems in its efforts to market its test to help doctors rule out Alzheimer's disease in diagnosing their patients; like many other biotechnology companies that are overdependent on single product, Nymox tried to produce some quick sales through newspaper and magazine advertising, but encountered more trouble than it expected; advertising riled the Alzheimer's Association and several neurologists, who maintained test was being marketed directly to consumers without independent verification that it worked; neurologists also reported that some people who feared they had the diseased rushed to their doctors' offices expecting test to ease their fears; Nymox test, if reliable, could bring big advantages in early detection Nymox president, Dr Paul Averback, responds to criticism about advertising of test; photos; graph on number of people reported to have died each year from Alzheimer's; chart on some methods of detection and treatment of the disease (L)

Herbert Muschamp on Philip Johnson's new, scaled-back design for Times Square, his fifth since 1983; new design calls for construction of two towers on parcels of land on south side of 42d Street, with Seventh Avenue running down middle; basic shape of two buildings is nearly identical to version advanced by Johnson in 1994; photos (M)