Houston Business Journal articles from August 1998

Houston Business Journal archives from August 1998

Pittsburgh firm makes stealth move to Houston. (Pitt-Des Moines Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Amex company takes two years to relocate Pitt-Des Moines Inc., a $475 million company traded on the American Stock Exchange, last week completed the relocation of its corporate headquarters to The Woodlands. But the move represents more...

Cash flow from water. (changes in water metering and utility payment schemes)
August 7, 1998... Flood of sub-metering shifts billing costs from local apartment owners to tenants Apartments advertising "all bills paid" are a thing of the past. Over the last 20 years, 85 percent of the nation's apartment projects have switched to...

Veteran deal-maker launching new public company. (Bruce Wilkinson; Chemical Logistics Corp.)
August 7, 1998... Bruce Wilkinson, the perennial savior of big but struggling public companies, will now try his hand at creating a new one from scratch. Wilkinson has teamed up with two former top executives of Sanifill Inc. and USA Waste Services Inc. to...

Yancey-Hausman breaks ground on two-building Park 10 project. (Yancey Hausman Development's commercial development projects at the Energy Corridor in Houston, Texas)
August 7, 1998... New offices will be first construction since 1980s Yancey-Hausman Development is pouring the foundation for the first of two Class A office buildings in the Energy Corridor's Park 10 development. The 27-year-old Houston-based firm partnered...

Early Houston grocers built popular food chains catering to public tastes.
August 7, 1998... In 1910, when David Helberg posed for the above photograph at his Travis Street grocery store, providing food for Houston's population was an enterprise usually performed by private citizens. But that had not always been the case. Shortly...

Flight planning. (airline consultancy services offered by PROS Strategic Solutions)
August 7, 1998... PROS helps airlines - and others - stay cost-effective Growing up in South Texas, Sam Coats assumed he'd never travel more than 20 miles outside his home town of Harlingen. But now he's president and CEO of PROS Strategic Solutions, a major...

ADDY winner BRSG advertising agency comes clean. (anti-pollution campaign)
August 7, 1998... Houston-area residents can't help but notice the heat. Thanks to efforts of BRSG, one of the city's largest independent agencies, more attention is also paid to air quality. Two years ago, BRSG took on the task of educating Houston about the...

A deja vu purchase for Wolff. (Wolff Cos. buys land along Houston Energy Corridor in Texas)
August 14, 1998... Acquisition adds 83-acre tract to Energy Corridor The west Houston Energy Corridor's boundaries are pushing even farther out Interstate 10. Wolff Cos. will purchase an 83-acre tract at the northwest corner of the Katy Freeway and...

Car wars. (CarMax fights Texas laws on automobile dealers)
August 14, 1998... CarMax challenge to state blue laws creates discord among dealers A brewing legal battle over the state's longstanding automotive "blue laws" has Houston car dealers driving in all different directions. While a Houston judge mulls whether...

Packaged Ice warms up to offering. (Houston, TX-based Packaged Ice Inc. plans initial public offering)
August 14, 1998... After two years of rapid growth fueled by acquisitions significant in size and number, Houston-based Packaged Ice Inc. plans to raise as much as $115 million in an initial public offering. Packaged Ice, now the largest manufacturer and...

Sudden impact: Astros net big profit per unit. (Houston Astros baseball team)
August 14, 1998... Two million bucks may be a lot for two months work, but Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane's short term investment in Randy "Big Unit" Johnson may have already paid for itself. The local baseball team acquired the 6-foot-10-inch pitcher - and...

American Rice's financial woes boil over into bankruptcy court.
August 14, 1998... Long-struggling Houston company American Rice Inc. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in Corpus Christi this week, citing $180 million in debt and $200 million in assets. ARI, which has been struggling with liquidity problems stemming from...

Captain of industrial. (Don Thomas, president of IIG Commercial Developers Inc.)
August 14, 1998... Targeting logistics, Don Thomas builds on warehouse and manufacturing development Don Thomas gets intrigued by things the average person probably doesn't think about - often something as common as a tube of toothpaste. "When I go into a...

Houston IPO activity flat but surge expected in fall. (initial public offerings in Houston, TX)
August 14, 1998... Six Houston-area IPOs, raised $371 million during the second quarter of 1998, 5 percent more than last year's second-quarter amount, but 13 percent lower than the first quarter of this year, according to an analysis prepared by Charles P. Young...

Coastal Bancorp Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 14, 1998... COASTAL BANCORP INC. Nasdaq CBSA 5718 Westheimer, Suite 600, Houston 77057 (713) 435-5000 Coastal Bancorp Inc. is the holding company for Coastal Banc Holding Company Inc., a Delaware unitary savings bank holding company. HoCo is the parent...

Big raises at top firm jolt legal market. (Vinson and Elkins)
August 21, 1998... V&E sets off ripple effect with 20 percent increase in starting salaries A major pay hike for starting attorneys at the city's largest law firm is sending shock waves through the legal community. Houston-based Vinson & Elkins has increased...

Back in action. (Yancey-Hausman and Associates)
August 21, 1998... Long-time partners break new ground on real estate projects after extended lull For nearly three decades, Bill Yancey and Craig Hausman have kept a low profile But no longer. After an extended break from the local office construction market,...

GE Capital Mortgage unit closing. (GE Capital Mortgage Services)
August 21, 1998... Move to California will cut 400 local jobs GE Capital Mortgage Services is shutting down its Houston office, eliminating 400 local jobs in the process. The company will consolidate its Houston office into the San Bernardino, Calif.,...

Top real estate data company enters market with acquisition. (Realty Information Group Inc's purchase of Core Data Services)
August 21, 1998... The nation's leading provider of electronic real estate databases has entered Houston with the acquisition of Core Data Services. Realty Information Group Inc., based in Bethesda, Md., acquired the 18-month-old local firm for $878,000 in RIG...

Houston-area drivers will be eligible for car insurance MAP. (Market Assistance Program)(Focus: Insurance Report)
August 21, 1998... A new state program will begin targeting eligible Houston-area drivers Sept. I to help them slash liability insurance costs. Almost 600 eligible drivers in underserved areas of Austin, El Paso and the Lower Rio Grande Valley have already called...

Merger would put Houston firm in top tier of aerospace suppliers. (Pentacon Inc.)
August 21, 1998... Pentacon follows roll-up IPO with bid to acquire ASI Aerospace Group A Houston firm is planning an acquisition that will make it one of the top three hardware suppliers to the aerospace industry. Pentacon Inc. signed an agreement last week to...

Soft prices could speed up merger activity in oil patch. (petroleum industry)
August 21, 1998... With oil prices down and drilling in the doldrums, analysts predict that this could be a strong year for acquisitions. The pace is expected to accelerate as some companies sell off properties to raise cash while others divest assets to maintain...

TDI limits use of Year 2000 liability exclusions. (Texas Department of Insurance)(Focus: Insurance Report)
August 21, 1998... Texas insurance companies have been quiet in the wake of the recent announcement by the Texas Department of Insurance regarding restrictions relating to Year 2000 issues, according to a report in Independent Insurance Agents of Texas' "Texas...

Gundle/SLT Environmental Inc. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 21, 1998... NYSE GSE 19103 Gundle Road, Houston 77073 (281) 443-8564 Gundle/SLT Environmental Inc. is the world leader in providing geosynthetic lining solutions, products and services to satisfy the needs of domeStiC and international, public and private...

REIT to develop old airport land. (real estate investment trust Camden Property Trust)
August 28, 1998... Camden plats project for 696-acre Andrau tract A 696-acre tract is being sold in what real estate observers are calling one of the biggest land deals in more than a decade. Real estate sources say Houston-based Camden Property Trust has...

Input/Output's stock tumbles by one third on lower expectations.
August 28, 1998... Local firm no longer leads the seismic pack The anemic environment for oil prices has finally taken its toll on Input/Output Inc. This week, after the company announced poorer than expected earnings, its stock price plummeted 33 percent....

Sterling reputation. (automobile dealership operator Sterling McCall Jr.)
August 28, 1998... Auto roll-up puts McCall in the driver's seat Sterling McCall Jr. runs the second most successful Toyota dealership in the country, but he readily admits that he doesn't like to sell cars. "I'm not a real good salesman," McCall says. "I...

Late bloomer. (growth of Zarr & Co. Realtors)
August 28, 1998... Zarr & Co. Realtors are sold on steady growth and consolidation At a time when some company owners might be pulling back from growing their business, Lynn Zarr is doing just the opposite. The 57-year-old owner of Zarr & Co. Realtors has been...

Lure of Houston's MPCs is strong with newcomers. (master-planned communities)
August 28, 1998... Companies relocating employees to Houston often look to the city's master-planned communities for their new homes. Unfamiliar with Houston's inner-city neighborhoods, those coming from other areas are attracted by reports of good schools, safe...

New generation of custom builders makes way into market.
August 28, 1998... Strong custom home sales in Houston are making it easier to break into the market. But everyone who sets sights on building and selling high-end homes faces hurdles, several of Houston's newer custom home builders say. It helps if real estate...

Office leasing, sales markets gain momentum in Houston.
August 28, 1998... The office leasing market continued at a feverish pace in the second quarter, driven by the leasing of large blocks of space and new building activity, according to a report by GVA Baylis, Gardner, Hodges, Price. "Rental rates continued an...

Swift Energy Co. (Proxy Report)(Company Profile)
August 28, 1998... NYSE, Pacific SFY 16825 Northchase Drive, Suite 400, Houston 77060-6098 (281) 874-2700 Swift Energy Co. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the exploration, development, acquisition, and operation of oil and gas...