Houston Business Journal articles from April 1999

Houston Business Journal archives from April 1999

Partners create new cancer center.(Baylor College of Medicine; Methodist Health Care System)
April 2, 1999... Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist Health Care System have joined forces to form a new cancer research and treatment center in Houston. The new Baylor/Methodist Cancer Center has recruited prominent prostate cancer physician Dr....

Builder clears hurdles in bid to develop land.(Baxter Development Corp.'s planned luxury apartments in Houston, Texas)
April 2, 1999... Building luxury apartments is usually a straightforward process in Houston. Not so for Greg Baxter. Baxter is president of Baxter Development Corp., a local company founded by his father more than 50 years ago. For several years, Baxter...

Guy's last stand: landmark magazine shop folds after 60 years in news.(Guy's News)
April 2, 1999... The $1 Churchill cigar rejects are gone. So is the fascinating chaos of magazines devoted to everything from fighter planes to fancy roosters. The only remnants of the 60-year-old Guy's News emporium at 3700 Main are a couple of brooms and...

Investor group buys Birraporetti's out of bankruptcy.(BP Acquisition Corp.'s restaurants; COHBP Acquisition Inc.)
April 2, 1999... Birraporetti's, a local chain once known for running "A great Italian restaurant and a heck of an Irish bar" has been purchased out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by a group of investors that includes original founder Michael D. Horan. A week...

Aprogenex files under Chapter 11 to deflect suits.(biotechnology company Aprogenex Inc.)
April 2, 1999... Preferred shareholders had sought a halt to sale of intellectual property Defunct Aprogenex Inc. has filed for bankruptcy in a bid to overcome objections to the sale of its intellectual property and to stave off a handful of lawsuits filed...

PalEx agrees to consolidation with German container concern.(pallet maker PalEx Inc. to merge with International Food Container Organization)
April 2, 1999... Public pallet company, Munich firm merging to form IFCO Systems Houston-based pallet film PalEx Inc. is going global in a merger with a German company that will create a $550 million international operation. IFCO Systems, to be formed...

Breaking barriers: to grow his investment firm, Gerald Smith has looked beyond its minority-owned status.(Smith Graham and Co.)(Company Profile)
April 2, 1999... When Gerald Smith graduated from Texas Southern University's School of Business 27 years ago, he had a tough time finding any minorities in the investment banking profession - especially in Houston. And when he set out to interview with a...

Food on the fly: starting with a single cookie corner, Aaron Smith;s airport concession business has taken off.(Growth Strategies)(Airport Express Food Management)(Company Profile)
April 2, 1999... Aaron Smith's small business experience has run the gamut. Over the years, Smith has owned a men's clothing store, a ladies' shoe store, a retail center and a restaurant. But his latest and most successful venture, a string of airport...

Resellers tap into technology to increase share of market.(Focus: Technology Quarterly)(local telephone service resellers)
April 2, 1999... After the Federal Telecommunications Act deregulated local phone service in 1996, a number of companies jumped into the newly opened market, building computer-based networks linking customers throughout the country. Two Houston-based...

Microsoft helping customers meet the Y2K problem.(Focus: Technology Quarterly)
April 2, 1999... Microsoft is taking a three-pronged approach to help prepare its customers to meet the Year 2000 challenge, according to Chris O'Rourke, senior technical specialist at Houston's Microsoft office. The company has tested its products to...

$30 oil predictions rile the 'Cassandra of Crude.'.(Planning & Forecasting Consultants' head Dale Steffes' oil price prediction)
April 9, 1999... A local energy forecaster who correctly predicted the oil bust of the 1980s is sounding the alarm again. This time Dale Steffes, head of Houston-based Planning & Forecasting Consultants, disagrees with some other pundits who expect to see...

Redevelopers drive Fifth Ward revival.
April 9, 1999... Heritage Homes builds new houses to attract retail Standing in front of her new three-bedroom home, Rose Hall says she likes the 15-minute commute to her job at the Texas Medical Center. But most of all, she loves being back in the...

UH architects utilize recycled materials to erect prototype houses in pilot project.(University of Houston)
April 9, 1999... When Anna Curtis left the Fifth Ward neighborhood where she grew up 35 years ago, there was nothing to buy except some ramshackle bungalows and run-down row houses. Now firmly settled in another pan of town, Curtis still comes to work in...

Clothing retailer slapped with shareholder suit; litigation accuses Stage Stores of manipulating stock.
April 9, 1999... A class action lawsuit filed last week in Houston federal court accuses officers of Stage Stores Inc. and a pair of venture capital groups with long ties to the company of manipulating its stock price to benefit from insider trading. Named...

Weakening stock price drives 3DX Technology off Nasdaq.
April 9, 1999... Failed merger deal, oil industry woes batter E&P company's shares The stock of Houston oil and gas exploration company 3DX Technologies was delisted by the Nasdaq SmallCap Market this week for failing to maintain the minimum required bid...

Changing of the guard at Paracelsus follows global settlement of lawsuits.(Charles Miller's plan to resign as president of Paracelsus Healthcare Corp.)
April 9, 1999... The president of Paracelsus Healthcare Corp. plans to resign now that the troubled Houston firm has reached a global settlement in its lingering shareholder litigation. Charles Miller, who is also chief operating officer, will step down...

Lofty developer buys historic downtown building out of foreclosure.(Randall Davis)
April 9, 1999... The faltering 220 Main conversion project appeared to get back on track this week as Randall Davis purchased the property out of foreclosure. John Tsertos of Q-Ratio Texas first announced plans to redevelop the building at the corner of...

Economist foresees a speedy recovery from oil downturn.(Focus: Energy)(University of Houston Economics Professor Barton Smith)
April 9, 1999... Energy, one of three engines driving the Houston economy is down. But according to Dr. Barton Smith, no emergency landing is necessary for the time being. He predicts that Houston's current oil crunch to be over by the end of the summer....

Kirby Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
April 9, 1999... NYSE KEX 1775 St. James Place, Suite 200, Houston 77056 (713) 435-1000 Kirby Corp. is the dominant player in the tank barge and diesel repair businesses. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of March 1, 1999 ...

Builder plans big project on bay.(developer Jim Rutherford's Terramar Bay Corp.)
April 16, 1999... Terramar buys tract to develop first canal community on west end of isle Developer Jim Rutherford is blazing new trails on the west end of Galveston island. Rutherford's company, Houston-based Terramar Bay Corp., has acquired 300...

Incubator lands first tech firms.(Houston Technology Center)
April 16, 1999... The Houston Technology Center, an incubator formed to assist emerging high-tech firms, has signed up its first three client companies. AIRbots, a medical software developer, CertiSource Inc., an Internet-based distributor of professional...

Medical turmoil continues in PPM market.(physician practice management)
April 16, 1999... In a surprise move, Apple Orthodontix Inc. has put itself up for sale. The local physician practice management company has hired an investment banking firm to evaluate alternative business strategies, including a sale or merger with another...

Rx for physicians: program ranks treatment of patients.(United HealthCare Corp.)
April 16, 1999... Few students look forward to receiving a report card, but United HealthCare Corp. "principals in Houston say a new program the national managed care company is initiating that grades doctors is getting high marks from most of the physicians...

Enron pulls the plug on solar power operation.(Sells Solarex to BP Amoco)
April 16, 1999... Company sells stake in Solarex four years after sunny startup After four years in solar power, Enron Corp. is getting out of the business by selling its share in Solarex to BP Amoco for $45 million. Enron bought the solar facilities...

Co-counsel cuts back as parent Olsten moves operations to New York.(Co-Counsel Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 16, 1999... New York-based Olsten Staffing Services has shut down most of the corporate office of Co-Counsel Inc., the Houston-based legal staffing subsidiary Olsten bought in 1995. Twenty employees at the Three Riverway corporate headquarters have...

Nationwide developer enters Houston via tollway projects.(Panattoni Development Co.)
April 16, 1999... One of the nation's largest developers is making headway in Houston with two projects off the Sam Houston Tollway. Sacramento, Calif.-based Panattoni Development Co. opened a Houston office last year and now has office and industrial sites...

Earnings warning by Compaq Computer leads to stock price decline of 25 percent.
April 16, 1999... New York law firm extends period for class action litigation Compaq Computer Corp.'s stock price is trying to recover from the pounding it took after a dismal earnings prediction from company officials. A drop in Compaq's stock price...

Compaq forces Pfeiffer to resign.(Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer)
April 23, 1999... CEO goes the way of Canion Less than two weeks after Eckhard Pfeiffer was honored with the Quest for Excellence award at the University of Houston, he was pressured into resigning as CEO of Compaq Computer Corp. After eight years at...

Adios, Zapata!(Zapata Corp. transfers from Houston, TX, to Rochester, NY)
April 23, 1999... Colorful company founded by Bush relocates to N.Y. Four decades after a young oil man named George Bush moved drilling company Zapata Corp. from West Texas to Houston, one of the city's most colorful corporations has quietly moved on to...

Former Merchants turn tables; First Choice Bank officers compete with ex-employer.
April 23, 1999... First Choice Bank officers compete with ex-employer Donald Harding and three other long-time Merchants Bank officers are ready to take on their former employer. Harding, former president of Merchants, and the others were ousted from...

First downtown skyscraper designed to play central role.(downtown Houston, TX)
April 23, 1999... Centrality, C. Richard Everett's idea for building a skyscraper, is not a novel idea. Like the great thinkers of the past who discovered that the Earth revolves around the Sun and relies on it for much of its lifeblood, a similar role has been...

Gerland's returns with grand new plan in grocery market.(Gerland's Food Fair Inc.)
April 23, 1999... Old chain buys back Sugar Land store to launch new concept Houston-based Gerland's Food Fair Inc., a suburban specialty supermarket chain known best for sticking to the basics, is launching a slick new store concept in Sugar Land in a bid...

Faced with $800 million in debt, TransTexas Gas files Chapter 11.
April 23, 1999... A casualty of poor oil and gas prices and a bloody balance sheet, TransTexas Gas Corp. and its parent company have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. The bankruptcy filings come as no surprise to industry sources who observed that...

Houston contractors fly high in constructing Austin airport.
April 23, 1999... Houston business is playing a major role in the construction of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which is now in the midst of its opening celebrations in Austin with public tours on April 24 and 25 and a black tie celebration on...

Working in wireless: ex-NASA communications engineer finds profit in the private sector.(Eagle Wireless International)
April 23, 1999... The next time you use a pager, access your e-mail from a remote location or make a call on a mobile phone, there's a good chance that the equipment used to transmit the signal was manufactured by Eagle Wireless International. The small but...

Style & substance: Julie Greenwood and Linda King are right at home with a big-time boutique realty.
April 23, 1999... Julie Greenwood and Linda King have more in common than their chic-in-black outfits and a thriving business selling top-echelon homes. Both originally hail from small Texas towns and both have experienced the "frustrated designer" syndrome...

Hot ideas for a cool business: James Stuart's ice factory and his consolidations have heated up the packaged ice industry.(Growth Strategies)(Packaged Ice Inc.)
April 30, 1999... James Stuart, CEO and president of Packaged Ice Inc., is quickly turning his hometown into the country's ice capital. Since 1997, Stuart has made 53 acquisitions of small, regional ice companies making Packaged Ice into the country's...

Washington Mutual adapts to Texas financial market.
April 30, 1999... Seattle-based Washington Mutual, a new name in Houston banking, is tailoring its strategy to the uniqueness of the Texas marketplace, with new concepts for its consumer banking operations, according to Larry Andrews of Houston, senior vice...

Luxury lofts slated for site in Montrose; Main Street builder plans mid-rise project called The Westheimer.(Main Street Investment Builders)
April 30, 1999... Mid-rise mania is making its way to the heart of Montrose. The neighborhood that's proven popular for pricey townhome construction is now getting a luxury loft project in the same vein of Randall Davis' Metropolis and Gotham lofts just...

Reinstated leader plans merger for Asian banks; Texas First to join nearby American First.(businessman Henry Wu; Texas First National Bank and American First National Bank)
April 30, 1999... Chinese-American businessman Henry Wu has won a decade-long battle for control of Texas First National Bank and now plans to merge it into his American First National Bank. Both are Chinese-American-owned banks located a block apart in the...

St. Luke's, Methodist close deal for Kelsey.(St. Luke's Episcopal Health System; Methodist Health Care System; Kelsey-Seybold Clinic)
April 30, 1999... Both the Methodist Health Care System and St. Luke's Episcopal Health System will continue building community health centers, despite closing this week on their acquisition of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and its 25 locations. St. Luke's says it...

Contractors balk at city insurance idea.(Houston, Texas)
April 30, 1999... A plan by Mayor Lee Brown to provide insurance for companies that work on city construction projects has raised questions from Houston City Council. And it's drawing the ire of local contractors. The Brown administration last week proposed...

Means.Knaus enters Uptown with partner St. Joe.(acquisition of the 1200 Post Oak building in Houston, Texas)
April 30, 1999... A partnership that's paying off in the Westchase District has set its sights on the Galleria area. Houston's Means * Knaus and The St. Joe Co. of Florida have teamed up to purchase the 1200 Post Oak building. The structure was purchased...

Inventor hails his QwikStrip bandage as a hands-down winner.(Mark Schroeder)
April 30, 1999... Local inventor Mark Schroeder is hoping someday soon people will be reaching for a QwikStrip instead of a Band-Aid to cover their cuts and scrapes. And that idea might not seem so far-fetched considering that the local start-up company...

Brave new cyberworld creates online anguish for some firms; Landry's, Raytheon seek identities of posters in Yahoo! chat rooms.(includes related article on Securities and Exchange Commission's creation of a body for Internet surveillance)(Landry's Seafood Restaurants)
April 30, 1999... Two public companies - including Houston-based Landry's Seafood Restaurants - have recently gone to court to try to learn the identities of anonymous individuals who discuss the companies' stock on Internet message boards. New York-based...

Power behind the presses: Joe Davis' national consolidation efforts have changed the face of commercial printing.(Profile)
April 30, 1999... Joe Davis can recall with his usual precision the first commercial printing company he bought in 1985. "It was Western Lithograph," Davis remembers. "We closed on that deal at 7 a.m. at the Steak and Egg restaurant at 610 and Memorial."...