Houston Business Journal articles from January 1999

Houston Business Journal archives from January 1999

Operators in Houston have own concerns.(small business owners)(Industry Trend or Event)
January 29, 1999... A survey of small business owners in Houston shows that many are more concerned about industry-specific problems than the prospect of a national recession. Navakoti Sendos, owner of 2001 Travel and Tours, isn't worried about a shortage...

Waterwood revival lures developer.(Keystone Land Company Inc)(Company Business and Marketing)
January 29, 1999... Keystone acquires 855 residential lots on Lake Livingston Houston-based Keystone Land Company Inc. has become the latest developer to toss its hat into the Waterwood ring, hoping to resurrect Lake Livingston as a viable summer home and...

Oil industry woes offer silver lining to Houston: as more companies merge and cut back, many are consolidating operations here.(Company Operations)
January 29, 1999... Even as mergers and consolidation in the oil and gas industry lead to sizable layoffs by Houston companies, tough economic times are driving more companies to move operations from elsewhere to Houston. A slew of oil and gas companies that...

Compaq plans AltaVista spin-off names Schrock as chief executive.(Alta Vista CEO Rod Shrock)(Company Business and Marketing)
January 29, 1999... Internet search engine forms Microsoft alliance Compaq Computer Corp. is creating a separate company for its Internet search engine, AltaVista. The AltaVista Co. will be based in Palo Alto, Calif., and operate as a wholly-owned...

Morgan Group slates apartments for rebounding Museum District.(Houston, TX)(Company Business and Marketing)
January 29, 1999... While townhomes have taken off in the Museum District recently, no developer has constructed a major apartment project in the area in more than 30 years. But Houston-based The Morgan Group plans to change that. The local developers have...

Virtual office technology finds home in residential real estate.(Houston real estate agencies)(Company Business and Marketing)
January 29, 1999... Houston-area residential real estate agencies are in a race to incorporate technological advances that apply to their field. Five years in the making, virtual office technology is now in full gear at Martha Turner Properties. ...

Realtors adapted methods to hot residential market in '98.(Houston, TX, real estate market)(Industry Trend or Event)
January 29, 1999... Remaining proactive in a fast-paced market was the challenge faced by Houston-area real estate professionals in 1998. The Houston-area market saw such increased volume in 1998 that, to attain the best results for their clients and customers,...

SIOR report: Houston office, industrial markets still strong.(Society of Industrial and Office Realtors)(Industry Trend or Event)
January 29, 1999... An easing of Houston's tight office market and continued strong activity in the industrial market are predicted in the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors' annual report on the performance and outlook of the nation's commercial real...

Model enterprise: with an eye for talent, Page Parkes has fashioned a successful group of modeling schools and agencies.(Company Business and Marketing)
January 29, 1999... When Page Parkes was driving home from her River Oaks office one evening in early November, something in the rear view mirror caught her eye. "I saw my name on top of the building," says Parkes, who heads a modeling dynasty in Houston,...

Demolition man.(demolition firm JTB Services' founder Jim Bulgier)
January 29, 1999... After 13 years, business at Jim Bulgier's JTB Services is still exploding When the owners of the old Buccaneer Hotel Building in Galveston decided it was time for the building to come down to create green space for the adjacent...

Med center members vie for key property.(Texas Medical Center)
January 22, 1999... Institutions have differing ideas for coveted K-Lot A group of hospitals and member institutions disagree over how the Texas Medical Center should use a prime 4.6-acre tract at the center of the city's burgeoning health care complex. ...

Investors battle for $9 million judgment.(Shardar Khan and Mohammed Halipoto wins case against Chinese National Machinery Import and Export Corp.)
January 22, 1999... A pair of Houston physician/entrepreneurs are finding out just how risky and complicated foreign business ventures can be. Dr. Shardar Khan and partner Dr. Mohammed Halipoto won a $9.4 million judgment against a Chinese company they say...

Phone bill fee boost hangs up businesses.(Southwestern Bell Corp.'s price increase affects companies in Houston, Texas)
January 22, 1999... City right-of-way charges hit some hard, miss others Bart Jones of Heritage Texas Properties suffered sticker shock when he took the time to examine his company's recent Southwestern Bell telephone bill for local service. The more...

Legislature takes temperature of health care issues in state.(76th Texas Legislature)
January 22, 1999... Key health care issues targeted for the 76th Texas Legislature could impact Houston businesses in all fields as well as those in the health care industry. Houston attorneys active in monitoring legislative health care issues and an...

Aided by ex-Pan Energy chief, Duke makes inroads down under.(Paul Anderson helps Duke Energy International operate in Australia)
January 22, 1999... The former president and chief operating officer of Duke Energy Corp. is helping its Houston operations make waves in the Australian natural gas market. Paul Anderson took over two months ago as CEO of an Australian company leading the...

Despite Conoco's mega-offering, IPO market showed slowing signs.(petroleum company's initial public offering)
January 22, 1999... Experts look for online deals to change how new issues are sold Although the rate of initial public offerings declined by 27 percent nationwide during the fourth quarter of 1998 compared to a year earlier, Houston chalked up a big gain in...

King of the doublewide.(mobile home manufacturer American Homestar CEO Finis Teeter)
January 22, 1999... After selling mobile homes for years, Finis Teeter sold Wall Street on the manufactured housing business If it weren't for the cost of Louisiana's out-of-state tuition, Finis Teeter might be filling prescriptions instead of running one...

Center established at Methodist to treat reflux disease.(Methodist Hospital opens Reflux Center)
January 22, 1999... The Methodist Hospital recently opened a Reflux Center, a comprehensive program providing all aspects of diagnosis and treatment - including surgery - to people suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease. As many as 19 million...

Minding their business.(David Balzen's management of InterNeed Inc.)
January 22, 1999... David Balzen has turned a knack for helping other companies into a profitable consulting firm David Balzen has grown his business by helping other people expand their own. Balzen founded InterNeed Inc., a business development and...

Plains Resource Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 22, 1999... AMEX PLX 500 Dallas, Suite 700, Houston 77002-4802 (713) 652-0716 Plains Resources Inc. is an independent energy company engaged upstream in the acquisition, exploitation, exploration, and production of crude oil and midstream in the...

Watermarc, Enos Cabell Motors in Chapter 11; auto dealership, restaurant firm file for bankruptcy.(Watermarc Food Management Corp.)
January 15, 1999... A pair of well-known Houston operations were bit by bankruptcy this week, filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in Houston federal court. Houston-based Watermarc Food Management Corp., parent company of Marco's Mexican Restaurants. The...

Venetian formula: developer takes on The Woodlands with ambitious power center project.(Jefco Development Corp.; Woodlands Operating Co.)
January 15, 1999... A Houston developer is planning to construct a 540,000-square-foot retail power center on Interstate 45 and go head-to-head with the venerable The Woodlands Operating Co. Led by Jim Fisher, Jefco Development Corp. plans to break ground in...

Lucksinger launches new HMO; ex-chief of NYLCare founds AmCareco with 65,000 members.(Tom Lucksinger; health maintenance organization; NYLCare Health Plans of the Gulf Coast Inc.)
January 15, 1999... One of the most successful players in Houston's managed care industry is bringing a new HMO to town. Tom Lucksinger is CEO of the newly-formed AmCareco Inc., a Houston-based firm created to buy part of the operations of an insurance...

Destination unknown: TravelFest expansion derails; Austin-based retailer packs its bags and bids farewell to Houston market.(TravelFest Superstores Inc.)
January 15, 1999... When Austin-based TravelFest Superstores Inc. opened its prototype store in Houston two years ago, company founder Gary Hoover believed he had built a company that was going places. The art deco-style shop at 1953 West Gray was supposed...

Zarr, House Hunters combine to create a common Heritage.(Zarr & Co. Realtors; Heritage Texas)
January 15, 1999... A pair of real estate firms that have operated independently for more than 20 years are partnering up to create Heritage Texas. The merger of Zarr & Co. Realtors and House Hunters Inc. will catapult the newly formed firm into a coveted...

Howdy, Nabors: Pool Energy agrees to firm's acquisition offer.(Nabors Industries)
January 15, 1999... Local oil service firms merging in deal worth almost $374 million After 50 years as an independent oil service company, Pool Energy will be acquired by Houston-based Nabors Industries. Pool fended off a merger offer from Nabors for...

Tamlyn quits Cushman for Trammell Crow.(Rusty Tamlyn; Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.)
January 15, 1999... Long-time real estate player Rusty Tamlyn is changing hats to tackle investment sales for Trammell Crow's Houston office. Tamlyn, who had been with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. for close to 8 years, officially made the switch Jan. 4,...

Vision and vigilance: Arnie Altsuler has assembled a heavyweight team to get Irby Rozelle's Coldwell Banker Commercial Uptown off the ground.(Company Profile)
January 15, 1999... When Coldwell Banker Commercial franchises became available, Irby Rozelle had the foresight to snap one up. A year later, Arnold "Arnie" Altsuler was tenacious enough to talk Rozelle into letting him run it. Now president and CEO of...

The science of signage: Douglas Gallagher has designed environmental graphics for such clients as Exxon, Continental and the Smithsonian Institute.(Growth Strategies: An Information Arsenal for Emerging Companies)
January 15, 1999... When Frank Douglas was studying architecture at Louisiana State University in the late 1960s, the field of environmental graphics and signage was uncharted territory. Corporations and businesses were just discovering that well-designed,...

Finance industry targets home equity lending issues.(Focus: Banking & Finance Quarterly)
January 15, 1999... Lenders and financial trade associations will target home equity lending in the upcoming legislative session. Their goal is to make the law that was drafted swiftly at the end of the 1997 session more consumer friendly. For the past...

The York Group Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 15, 1999... Nasdaq YRKG 9430 Old Katy Road, Houston 77055 (713) 984-5569 The York Group Inc. is the second largest casket manufacturer in the United States. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of March 12, 1998 8,906,950 ...

German group buying Pennzoil Place.(office tower in Houston, Texas)
January 8, 1999... Price of downtown building will exceed $200 million Pennzoil Place, two of Louisiana Street's preeminent office towers, is under contract to a group of European investors in a deal valued at more than $200 million. Sunbelt Management...

John Moores' Neon Systems hopes to shine on Wall Street.
January 8, 1999... Software company IPO seeks to raise up to $37.4 million A Sugar Land software company controlled by BMC Software founder John Moores plans to go public in an initial offering worth as much as $37.4 million. Neon Systems Inc., which...

Remaining Med Center land up for grabs: Texas Children's wind prime spot for new building.(Texas Children's Hospital)
January 8, 1999... Texas Children's Hospital, already the nation's largest pediatric hospital, will construct a new 12-story building as part of a massive expansion campaign. And the hospital's new patient care building in the Texas Medical Center is only...

TMC commissions study to find best use for coveted real estate.(Texas Medical Center)(Remaining Med Center Land Up for Grabs)
January 8, 1999... The Texas Medical Center is embarking on its most ambitious strategic planning since its inception 52 years ago as it looks for ways to accommodate the rapid growth of its member institutions. A newly-hired consulting firm has been...

Fare play: Yellow Cab aims for new business with Airport Taxi.
January 8, 1999... When Houston-based Yellow Cab Co. argued at City Council last year against granting new taxi cab permits, it came under fire for not using up to 100 permits it had held onto for years. Now Yellow Cab President Joseph Chernow has done...

Pennzoil formalized business line separation.
January 8, 1999... Pennzoil Quaker State, PennzEnergy begin trading individually Pennzoil Co. completed its restructuring this week, merging with Quaker State and dividing into two separately traded companies. The exploration and production side of the...

Contentious consolidator: Gene Isenberg's hardball strategies have turned once-bankrupt Nabors Industries into an industry leader.(Profile)(chairman and CEO)
January 8, 1999... Gene Isenberg frequents the Metropolitan Opera of New York, never misses the Kentucky Derby and maintains homes in such fashionable locales as Martha's Vineyard, New York's Park Avenue and Palm Springs. He regularly commutes from those...

Well-grounded profession: archeologist Roger Moore finds a future in saving remnants of past.(Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
January 8, 1999... Making a living as an archeologist studying South Texas' earliest residents is not your run-of-the-mill small business, admits Roger Moore. And Moore, owner of Moore Archeological Consulting, freely admits that his unique occupation hasn't...

Internet savvy empowers both young and older.(Internet & World Wide Web)
January 8, 1999... It's a common scenario today: The computer problems of the middle-aged business owner are quickly solved by a confident expert who looks young enough to be in high school. Age has little meaning on the Internet. The image of the typical...

Compaq drives NW hotel boom.(Compaq Computer Corp.'s hotel spending strategy in Northwest Houston, Texas)
January 1, 1999... Sheraton targets computer maker with full-service inn Houston's No. 1 public company is making more than computers. Compaq Computer Corp.'s hotel spending strategy is making full-service hotels take a second look at North-west Houston....

A rebirth in restoration.(Fretz Construction Co.'s restoration projects in Houston, Texas)
January 1, 1999... After 75 years and dozens of projects Fretz Construction returns to its roots Fretz Construction Co. has been building Houston for decades. Now the firm is rebuilding it. The 75-year-old family-owned construction business added the...

Rig contract cancellations deepen crisis for local oil service industry.(R&B Falcon Corp. of Houston, Texas)
January 1, 1999... Offshore drilling rig contract cancellations are beginning to roll in, marking further deterioration in the oil service sector. Although rigs that drill in shallower waters were already going idle, this week's news that two floating rig...

Leader of the pack.(Beth Wolff Realtors of Houston, Texas)
January 1, 1999... Beth Wolff Realtors has targeted unique niches to thrive in boom and bust For would-be entrepreneurs, the Houston economy of the 1970s made for a tempting time to start a business. And Beth Wolff, then a Realtor working for a local firm,...