Houston Business Journal articles from January 2000

Houston Business Journal archives from January 2000

Trio vies to double airport cargo space.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Trammell Crow, others propose big expansion of Bush shipping facilities A three-firm team is negotiating with the Houston Airport System to build and market more than a million square feet of cargo industrial space on the George Bush...

Lawsuits gush in Baker Hughes.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Accounting woes, stock slide create class-action flood Baker Hughes Inc. rang in 2000 with two related headaches -- accounting problems and class-action lawsuits. As it grapples with accounting problems at its Inteq unit, the...

High tech incubators heating up.
January 7, 2000... If Marc Smith has his way, the next Amazon.com or eToys will get its start in his Houston-based technology incubator. Smith is the founder of NetStrategy, business incubator that invests money and administrative resources in Internet...

Radler drops grand Pavilion plans, will seek buyer.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The rumor mill has been churning about the future of The Pavilion on Post Oak for more than two years. Now the owner is making it official -- the snazzy but suffering retail center is going on the block. Investment group Radler Pavilion LP,...

Houston museum crafts cooperative inroads.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The Houston Museum of Natural Science is making an unprecedented move, collaborating with Chicago's Field Museum, the Smithsonian and The Natural History Museum in London to bring "Kremlin Gold" and "Voyages of Discovery" to the United States....

Ballpark boasts a cost under planned budget.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... After all is said and done, Enron Field will cost $1.8 million less in public money to construct than its $250 million budget. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority says the new home of the Houston Astros will be finished on time in...

A double dose of Y2K celebration.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Twins Bonny Wyatt Nobles and Betty Wyatt Caldwell had much more to celebrate than a new century Jan. 1. They also had a blowout birthday brunch. The lifelong Houstonians marked their 85th birthday at a brunch Jan. 2 at the Warwick Hotel's La...

Ad campaign pans the Grand Parkway.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The Sierra Club of Houston launched a weeklong radio ad campaign at the end of December targeting the city's proposed Grand Parkway -- an estimated $2 billion project that would be Houston's fourth loop. "The Grand Parkway was named one of...

Lighthouse starts work on training facility.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The lighthouse of Houston is adding onto its complex at 3602 West Dallas, just outside of Downtown. After 60 years of operating in Houston, the organization for the blind is breaking ground in a two-story addition that will house the...

News from the food and drink front.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Restaurateurs whose establishments are known for good old fashioned comfort food often have reason to worry when those New Year's dieters start counting calories. But Frankie B. Mandola's Steaks & Burgers is getting with the program -- at...

Antone's Famous Po'boys & Deli.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Antone's Famous Po'boys & Deli has followed the Oilers to Nashville. In a move that marks the first time the Houston company expands outside the Texas market, An tone's has begun construction on a new commissary this month. at the Trademark...

Restructured Adair International catches attention of stock watchers.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... A newly public company developed by Houston oil and gas entrepreneur John Adair has raised high expectations for future growth among some stock watchers. Adair International Oil and Gas has been selected by Business World News, a cable...

Buyers will give Gulf Publishing e-commerce spin.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The board of directors of Houston-based Gulf Publishing Co. voted unanimously on Jan. 5 to sell its family-owned business to two venture capital firms in a $20 million deal. Last month, employees of the 83-year old publishing house were...

Reliant hastens its European market entrance.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Energy company will complete $2.4 billion deal for Dutch electric utility Reliant Energy officially unveiled its new European business unit, Reliant Energy Europe, this week as it accelerated its acquisition of a major Dutch. power...

Ballyhoo over SCI passes away as stock declines by 81 percent.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... A year ago, Service Corp. International qualified as a large-cap stock. Now, that bygone status haunts the world's largest provider of death care: SCI has limped into the new millennium saddled with the title of worst-performing large cap of...

Houseware retailer Lechters drops trio of Houston locations.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Harrison, N.J.-based Lechters Inc. is closing at least three of its Houston-area stores. The nation's largest retailer of housewares and items for the kitchen is closing a store in Sugar Land, Baybrook Mall and The Galleria, say chain...

Retail rumblings.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The Woodlands continues to see a rampant retail boom as developers build lavish shopping centers to keep up with residential growth in the master-planned community. For starters, construction has begun on a 130,00-square-foot shopping...

Ross Dress For Less.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Newark, Calif.-based Ross Dress For Less is thinking in terms of more. The discount clothing store has opened three stores in the Houston area. The company leased 31,000 square feet in Willowbrook Commons at the northeast corner of FM 1960 and...

Northwest Mall.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Northwest Mall is luring in new tenants. San Francisco-based Old Navy opened its seventh Houston store in the mall. A division of Gap Inc., the casual clothing retailer opened a 25,000-square-foot store in the shopping center. Other tenants...

Vollmer logs on to dot-com business with new Austin office.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Vollmer Public Relations - Houston's second largest PR firm -- has expanded its Austin office account line-up less than 60 days after opening its doors. And the account mix has a distinctly high tech flavor. New accounts include...

dbusiness.com.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Florida-based dbusiness.com is moving into Houston. The provider of local business news and information on the Web will be up and running in the Bayou City on Jan. 17. The news site was started in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area in Nov....

Triad USA Marketing Group, Inc.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Local ad firm Triad USA Marketing Group, Inc. has just made its fourth acquisition. The company bought Unique Press, a commercial printing firm based in Round Rock, near Austin. The acquisition is Triad's first purchase outside the Houston...

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions, Inc.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Patrick Henry Creative Promotions, Inc. has been retained by Boston-based Fuddrucker's to develop a new beverage promotion. PHCP will create signature drinks and seasonal celebrations, developing associate tools and incentive programs....

The Tenagra Corp.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The Tenagra Corp. is launching a weekly Internet publication for the online advertising, marketing and publicity industries. Beginning this week, AdBanter (www.adbanter.com) will complement the company's Online Advertising Discussion List...

1999: Year of real estate repose didn't stop a batch of big deals.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Compared to 1997 and 1998, real estate's 1999 was a year of moderation. While the building and investment boom that burst forth in the mid- 1990s cooled to a degree, Houston still saw a number of significant deals. All was mostly...

The Galleria.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... In what is undeniably the most monumental deal in 1999, The Galleria complex changed hands for a cool $550 million. Houston's Hines let go of the megamall after hanging onto the development since developing it in the late 1970s. Urban...

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas'.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Houston office scouted Out and went under contract on the old Jefferson Davis Hospital site on Allen Parkway as it tries to move out of the aging San Jacinto Street complex is has occupied since 1958. ...

Hanover Co.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Houston-based Hanover Co., a multifamily development firm, closed on a 3-acre parcel of green belt along Buffalo Bayou in the Sixth Ward. Several development scenarios are underway for the hotly speculated tract known as "Sabine Island."...

Premier Towers.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... In the heart of the CBD, the 914 Main Commerce Building is set to get overhauled as an opulent luxury condo tower for the well-heeled. New York-based investment group Premier Towers -- led by Morris Friedman in conjunction with Tarantino...

Coldwell Banker Pennington-Chen.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Even Clear Lake is buying into the high-rise condo concept. Real estate veterans Bill Chen of Coldwell Banker Pennington-Chen and Frans Gillebaard, who founded the Kemah Waterfront 20 years ago, have blueprints on the drawing board for a...

Presidio Investments.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Two major building sales disrupted the relative silence that set in the office market during 1999. Presidio Investments of Dallas purchased its first Houston property and gained the status of largest office deal of 1999. The firm closed on...

Houston Community College System.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... An office deal of a different sort went down in 1999 as well, as the Houston Community College System closed on the 3100 Main building in Midtown with plans to revamp it as HCCS headquarters. The 531,000-square-foot building is the largest...

Tenneco Building.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... After sitting like a white elephant on the West Loop, the old Tenneco Building is getting revamped by TPMC Realty Corp. of Dalls. Dubbed Park Towers, cranes finally started moving around the twin buildings after years of talk began about...

Starwood Hotels & Resorts.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Lofty developer Randall Davis rescued the languishing 220 Main building from limbo last spring. Davis bought the 12-story downtown property out of foreclosure for $2.8 million. For three years John Tsertos of Q-Ratio Texas tried to get...

1001 McKinney Building.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Hot On the heels of the completion of the 1001 McKinney Building - a revamped office building on Main Street -- Larry Levine's Levcor Inc. wrapped up a major land play Katy Freeway. Independent agent Susan Menke brokered the 40 acres of...

Baker Hughes Inc.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... The consolidation of Baker Hughes Inc. and Western Atlas forced a lot of real estate to shuffle on the west side of town. One 104-acre land tract in particular stood out to the land speculators, though. The prominent parcel housing an...

Enron Corp.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Energy giant and ballpark namesake Enron Corp. showed even more interest in the east side of Downtown this summer, when the company optioned 14 acres of land in the shadow of Enron Field. Former city councilman Louis Macey blocked up the...

Mayor Lee Brown's.(city ordinances)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... March madness descended on City Hall last spring, with city council members, residents and the planning commission registering their opinions on the inner city density debate. After more than two years of planning, Chapter 42 was forwarded...

Shaping the SBA.
January 7, 2000... Milton Wilson has changed the face of the agency local office Milton Wilson Jr. has witnessed a revolution. During his time as director of the Small Business Administration's Houston District, financing options for small businesses...

Playing business by the numbers.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... While it contains many facets of critical importance, business -- large and small -- remains a serious numbers game. And as we turn the corner into 2000, the role the upcoming U.S. Census plays in that game is critical. Wisely, the U.S....

A generational thing.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... For those of you who have made it all the way to the big 2000, it's time for some perspective. But that perspective differs depending upon when you first began trying to earn a living. If you started in 1950, you ought to be thankful you...

An visit from OSHA's men in black.
January 7, 2000... A sharp rap at the door last night broke my concentration as I sat at home pondering a potential column idea. The pounding grew louder before I could get to the door and open it. On the front porch stood two men in black suits and dark...

A LITIGATION HALL OF SHAME.
January 7, 2000... The 'Best of the Bizarre' lawsuits of 1999 In the great American tradition, hundreds of thousands of Americans go to court each year -- sometimes for the wackiest of reasons. Here are the "Best of the Bizarre" lawsuits that made news in...

Market entry.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Market entry. Austin-based USOL Holdings Inc., an integrated provider of telecommunications and entertainment services to multi-family apartment and condominium complexes, will begin operations in Houston -- its seventh major market -- January...

Operations unaffected. Conoco Inc.'s.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Operations unaffected. Conoco Inc.'s operations in Venezuela -- which include an office in Caracas and the $2.5 billion Petrozuata heavy oil project -- were not affected by flooding last month in the country. No Conoco employees or their...

New hotel. GM Hotel Development.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... New hotel. GM Hotel Development has opened Florida's fifth Microtel Inn & Suites in Orlando, less than one mile from Universal Studios. Additional Microtels in Florida are located in Lake City, Leesburg, Pensacola and Tallahassee. The...

Online partnership.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Online partnership. Retailer Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. has formed an exclusive long-term alliance with Global Sports Inc. to develop and operate the www.oshmans.com online sporting goods superstore. Global Sports is an Internet company that...

Pipeline acquisition. Duke Energy Co.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Pipeline acquisition. Duke Energy Co. has agreed to buy El Paso Energy Corp.'s East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. for $386.3 million. East Tennessee's 1,100-mile pipeline crosses the Texas Eastern Transmission Corp. pipeline, owned by Duke Energy....

Remote system contract. Oceaneering International Inc.'s.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Remote system contract. Oceaneering International Inc.'s division, Oceaneering Technologies, has been awarded a contract with Kaiser-Hill Co. LLC to provide a remote operations size reduction system for cutting and packaging contaminated glove...

Well buyout. EnerVest Energy LP.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Well buyout. EnerVest Energy LP, an institutional partnership managed by EnerVest Management Co. LC, has acquired interests in 10 wells and more than 13,000 net underdeveloped acres located near the Rock Springs Uplift of Sweetwater County,...

Equity purchase.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Equity purchase. A unit of Williams has acquired Duke Energy Corp.'s 9.8 percent equity interest in the Alliance Pipeline limited partnerships. The transaction brings Williams' total interest in the Alliance Pipeline system to about 14.6...

Cogeneration facility. The Coastal Corp.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2000... Cogeneration facility. The Coastal Corp., an energy holding company, will acquire, through subsidiaries, an additional 23.1 percent interest in the Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership. The purchase will be made from MCN Energy...

How to Start a Freelance Consulting Business.
January 7, 2000... May be you've always wanted to be your own boss, or may be you've been downsized into a decision to start your own business. Whatever your reasons, you're about to join a growing number of people who have chosen to put job security in their own...

Sales force.
January 7, 2000... Psychologist Robert DeGroot's sales training program has found corporate success Robert DeGroot first created Sales Training International to help clients sell better. It now has turned into a full blown sales training company that spun...

Boomers aid elderly parents in making lifestyle choices.
January 7, 2000... More and more baby boomers find themselves with kids at home, their own retirement looming and the added responsibility of caring for an elderly parent. The phenomenon has earned the boomers a new moniker - The Sandwich Generation. ...

Senior housing construction slowing down in Houston.
January 7, 2000... The development of new senior citizen housing in Texas appears to be slowing after a cycle of building that has consistently placed the state at the top in studies tracking the construction of assisted and independent living communities. ...

Retirees enjoy the good life through continuum of care.
January 7, 2000... The main regret of many retirees about moving to a retirement facility is that they did not make the move much sooner. When they first visit a facility, they almost immediately begin explaining to family members and staff how content they...

LARGEST HOUSTON-AREA RETIRMENT COMMUNICATIONS.
January 7, 2000... LARGEST HOUSTON-AREA RETIREMENT COMMUNICATIONS Nancy E. Lewis (Ranked by Number of Independent Living Units) Purchase ...

Active baby zoomers get ready to redefine retirement.
January 7, 2000... Just as they did in the '60s with "flower power" and in the '70s with disco fever, the now aging baby boomers will redefine retirement in the 21st century, demanding more active, challenging lifestyles that transform the golden years into...

Long-term care insurance may ease a heavy burden.
January 7, 2000... Families often plan for the death of a spouse, but not near as many prepare for disability or illness that would require health care or daily assistance for the long term. Long-term care insurance, usually seen as insurance for just the...

Hobbit Cafe: Tribute to Tolkien returns to suit would-be Bilbos.
January 7, 2000... I never longed to be a hippie. I embraced many of the counterculture's social, political, musical and literary leanings, but I parted company when it came to communal living, clothes and grooming. I have always enjoyed eating like a...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
January 7, 2000... ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN DesignCare Inc. has added Terrence Thompson to architectural services and Hannah Bretting to administration. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Houston NFL 2002 has named Jamey Roots as vice president/sales and marketing...

Sienna Plantation.
January 7, 2000... Sienna Plantation has been honored as Development of the Year by the Houston Association of Realtors in recognition of its visible commitment to serving the public with integrity and competence.

Houston Landscapes Unlimited.
January 7, 2000... Houston Landscapes Unlimited has been awarded the Award of Merit and Excellence for the Avalon Clubhouse in the 30th Annual Environmental Improvement Awards Program sponsored by the Associated Landscape Contractors of America. Avalon is a...

Hanson Galleries.
January 7, 2000... Hanson Galleries has been named one of the Top 10 Retailers of American Craft by Niche magazine. Hanson Galleries was selected from 535 galleries throughout the United States and is the first in Texas to receive this honor. Criteria used to...

Volkswagen Cabrio: A sluggish ragtop with a few good perks.
January 7, 2000... Competitors: Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire convertibles. Tom: I've said it before: There are two kinds of people -- convertible owners and everybody else. And convertible owners will find a lot to like about the Volkswagen Cabrio. ...

Digital doubling up: Duplicators have returned, minus the smell.
January 7, 2000... Have you ever printed a marketing flyer only to wish a few days later that you could change the offer? A digital duplicator might just fit the bill. No, these are not the same duplicators as the ones you used in grade school, With their...

Energy industry gets a cyber push.
January 14, 2000... Two competing groups of local oil and gas veterans are racing to put the energy industry online. Houston-based eNersection.com Inc. and NetworkOil each plan to launch Internet platforms for the buying and selling of oil and gas-related...

Perking up an East End plant.
January 14, 2000... Retrofitted rice mill might shake up coffee bean business Remember when there were just two types of coffee -- regular and decaf? Long gone are those days of simply swilling the stuff for a morning jolt. Thanks to Starbucks-style...

Earnings warnings soften BMC stock.
January 14, 2000... January is a tale of opposite directions for BMC Software Inc., whose stock soared then sank along with its earnings outlook this month. Like Janus, the two-faced Roman god for which January is named, Houston-based BMC's stock in 2000 has...

Disappointed dreaming of a white New Year's.(DiaGem Jewelers promotion)
January 14, 2000... Anyone who shopped at Houston's DiaGem Jewelers during the holiday season were probably singing "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow (in New York)" on New Year's Day. The 1900 West Loop South jeweler promised that the cost of all...

Fortune shines on four local companies.
January 14, 2000... Four Houston companies commandeered top kudos from Fortune magazine in the Jan. 10 issue. The financial mag published its list of the 100 best companies to work for, with Continental Airlines Inc., Enron Corp., David Weekly Homes and BMC...

Brewery owners take their shot at Downtown.(Bank Draft Brewing)
January 14, 2000... Bank Draft Brewing Co. owners Scott and Lauri Littlewood are lifting their mugs to a late January opening of their Mercantile Brewery & Pub. Located at the site of the old Isis Theatre at Main and Prairie, the Mercantile will be the first...

Compaq's Capellas predicts Web taxation.
January 14, 2000... Michael Capellas, president and CEO of Compaq Computer Corp., predicts that the amount of business conducted over the Internet will increase from 5 percent to 30 percent over the next three years. And with 30 percent of the country's...

More news from the food and drink front.
January 14, 2000... Consolidated Restaurant Operations Inc. hopes to rebuild the Good Eats Grill on Highway 6 in Sugar Land, which was destroyed by fire Jan. 2, says Mark Czaus, vice president of operations for the Dallas-based company. Sugar Land fire officials...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
January 14, 2000... Based on information supplied by Ventures Marketing Group, the Houston Business Journal incorrectly reported in the Dec. 17, 1999, issue that Houston-based Technigrafiks was involved in a three-way venture with Ventures Marketing Group and a...

GroupMAC spinning off division in wake of Building One merger.
January 14, 2000... Norris will leave post as chairman to direct HVAC contractor group Group Maintenance America Corp. has agreed to sell select assets in a deal that involves the departure of Chairman Jim Norris. Houston-based GroupMAC, an acquisitive...

Post Properties will expand its Midtown presence with 13-story residential project.
January 14, 2000... Midtown appears to be moving into the next phase of residential development, with Atlanta-based Post Properties announcing a 13-story midrise tower that looks toward Downtown. The brick, glass and stucco building will be divided into 10...

Kerr off the hook for $1.4 million tax bill.
January 14, 2000... Ex-Pennzoil chief wins legal skirmish with IRS Former Pennzoil President Baine P. Kerr Sr. and his wife won't have to pay Uncle Sam $1.41 million in gift taxes after all. In a precedent-setting U.S. Tax Court opinion, Judge Julian I....

Hines repurchases downtown property it developed 20 years ago.
January 14, 2000... Local firm developed 1100 Louisiana in 1980 Houston-based Hines is buying back one of its original Downtown developments through a joint partnership with the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The venture, called National...

Riviana unit buys German rice miller.
January 14, 2000... Houston-based marketer and distributor of rice products Riviana Foods Inc. is topping off an acquisitive year with the purchase of a major German rice milling and packing company. Boost Nutrition, a Belgian rice milling joint venture in...

Twin Spin pens merger accord with Austin Web site designer.
January 14, 2000... Twin Spin Design, a Houston-based Internet design, marketing and consulting firm has merged with Austin-based Avatar Technology. The combined company will retain Avatar Technology's name and maintain offices in both Austin and Houston....

Acree Creative, Business Lab meld operations.
January 14, 2000... The Business Lab Inc. and Acree Creative Inc. have merged, creating more of an offline marketing, promotions and graphic design firm. The new Houston-based company will operate under The Business Lab's banner. Dan Acree, founder of...

Shop talk.
January 14, 2000... When the Houston office or Ogilvy & Mather is fully dismantled next month (see "Ogilvy & Mather Shells out of Houston," Nov. 19, 1999), the ad agency's managing directors, Angus Fraser and Joe Kilgore, will be leaving Houston. Fraser is...