Dallas Business Journal articles from August 1999

Dallas Business Journal archives from August 1999

DalMac family 'together again.'.(DalMac Cos. and Centre Development Co. Inc.)
August 27, 1999... Merger of development companies ends decades-old competition RICHARDSON - Ending a family rivalry that began nearly 20 years ago, real estate developers DalMac Cos. and Centre Development Co. Inc. are merging to form a $300 million...

GM dealership readies Denton expansion.(The James Wood Auto-Park)(Company Profile)
August 27, 1999... DENTON - The James Wood AutoPark off Interstate 35E is planning a $7 million expansion that will include three new buildings, renovation of its existing buildings and the addition of 100 employees. The automobile dealership, whose...

Small North Texas towns luring new business; Bonham lands medical-products startup.(Bonham, Texas; Infra-Med Technologies Inc.)
August 27, 1999... BONHAM - Dallas-based startup Infra-Med Technologies Inc. plans to pay $1.5 million for a vacant assembly plant here, where the company says it could create anywhere from 200 to 1,000 new jobs by next year. That's good news for this small...

Denison attracts Nucentrix facility, up to 250 jobs.(Small North Texas Towns Luring New Business)(Denison, Texas; Nucentrix Broadband Networks Inc.)
August 27, 1999... DENISON - In a move that could create as many as 250 jobs, cable TV provider Nucentrix Broadband Networks Inc. will move a customer service and sales support center from Durant, Okla., to Denison. Plano-based Nucentrix chose Denison after...

Coming home to Alliance.(planned housing development in Alliance corridor)
August 27, 1999... Developer hopes to improve housing market with aggressive projects ALLIANCE - For Fort Worth developer D.L. (Bud) Hudgins Jr., investing in the Alliance corridor was a no-brainer. Hillwood's Alliance development employs more than...

Dallas company's lawsuit alleges conspiracy.(Campbell Critical Care Inc.)
August 27, 1999... Campbell Critical Care seeks punitive damages from Kentec Medical Inc. DOWNTOWN DALLAS - Campbell Critical Care Inc. claims a conspiracy between a former employee and a California competitor has severely harmed its business. In...

VoiceStream to launch GSM service in Dallas.(VoiceStream Wireless; Global Standard for Mobile Communications)
August 27, 1999... Company plans to spend millions to roll out its wireless technology GREATER DALLAS AREA - In a move that could entail a capital expenditure of tens of millions of dollars, a new wireless-phone carrier is planning to launch service in...

Service King launches expansion.(Service King Collision Repair Center Inc.)(Company Profile)
August 27, 1999... Auto collision repair firm to add five locations and relocate its headquarters NORTH DALLAS - Service King Collision Repair Center Inc. is beginning a major expansion in the Metroplex that includes the relocation of its corporate...

Schreiner to build flight training facility at D/FW.(Dallas/Fort Worth Airport)(Company Profile)
August 27, 1999... Dutch company to bring simulator center, 100 jobs to airport site FORT WORTH - A privately held Dutch company is building a multimillion-dollar pilot training facility at the southern end of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. ...

Beyond Conception changes strategy.(specialty baby and children's store)
August 27, 1999... Specialty baby, children's store regroups under bankruptcy protection CARROLLTON - Specialty retailer Beyond Conception Inc. has halted its aggressive expansion, using bankruptcy protection to retool its strategy. Gone is the...

Three high-tech companies make McKinney home base.(McKinney, Texas)
August 27, 1999... Firms move north to be near their work forces McKINNEY - Three technology companies are setting up shop in this northern Dallas suburb. Leading the group is Sigmetrix L.L.C., an eight-employee subsidiary of Toronto-based Rand Corp.,...

Tax district could boost development, leases.
August 27, 1999... Plan's approval expected to cap property taxes in in Las Colinas district LAS COLINAS - Las Colinas real estate executives are hoping that a newly approved tax increment financing district for the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation...

FedEx adding Alliance jobs. (Federal Express; Fort Worth.(Texas) Alliance Airport)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Delivery powerhouse looks to hire 350 workers as its volume triples ALLIANCE - Federal Express plans to boost employment by more than 350 people at its Fort Worth Alliance Airport hub as it adds day-time workers to what had been a...

Lawsuit snarls Hiltop Inn sale to Hicks firm.(Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc.)
August 20, 1999... EAST DALLAS - Development plans by Olympus Real Estate Corp. for the former Hiltop Inn site here have hit a roadblock. Last year, real estate developer Olympus agreed to buy the aging hotel at Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway,...

Soft money: AMR, H.D. Vest and Akin Gump top the latest list of D-FW firms that have made these unregulated - but legal - political contributions.(Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... WASHINGTON, D.C. - Metroplex contributors gave about $1.6 million in so-called soft money to political parties during the first six months of the year 2000 federal election cycle. Of that total, nearly 35% came from three Dallas-Fort Worth...

Business, industry booming in 'pro-active' Waco.(Texas)
August 20, 1999... WACO - A big industrial boom in Waco shows no sign of subsiding, with the latest expansion coming from Indiana-based Patriot Homes Inc., which will double its plant's capacity here and add 75 new jobs. Patriot's plans are just the latest...

New player enters in bid for Thanksgiving Tower.(Macfarlan Real Estate Services)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Atlanta real estate firm backs off after it fails to secure financing DOWNTOWN DALLAS - A Dallas developer has stepped up to purchase Thanksgiving Tower, one of Dallas' largest and most prominent buildings, after an Atlanta real estate...

Myers & Crow set to receive 50% abatement.(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Lewisville expected to approve measure for its first major Class A office LEWISVILLE - It wasn't as much as Myers & Crow Co. Ltd. wanted, but the company says the tax abatement offered by the city is still a bargain. The city of...

Local companies raise $72M in VC.(venture capital)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Akili Inc. nabs biggest chunk in second-quarter with $14.9M infusion DOWNTOWN DALLAS - Venture-capital investments fell 2% in the Metroplex during the second quarter, with companies here raising nearly $72 million on 17 deals, an...

IESI plans to add to its growing acquisitions list.(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... 5-year-old solid-waste firm tags $140 million to fund its growth strategy HALTOM CITY - Five-year-old IESI Corp. has gobbled up 25 other companies so far this year, but the solid-waste company's appetite for acquisitions is far from...

Firm's lawsuit seeks identities of e-mail authors.(practice management group Promedco)
August 20, 1999... Comments posted on the Internet are libelous, defamatory, officials say FORT WORTH - Practice-management group Promedco is seeking the identities of e-mail writers it claims posted libelous statements about the company on an Internet...

Hughes, Fulbright call off mega law firm merger.(Hughes & Luce LLP and Fulbright & Jaworski LLP)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Conflict may stem from several patent infringement lawsuits DOWNTOWN DALLAS - What would have been the nation's largest law firm merger ever, between Dallas-based Hughes & Luce L.L.P. and Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., has...

Chase taps D-FW for trust unit.(Chase Manhattan Corp. to relocate its trust services division to the Dallas-Fort Worth area)
August 13, 1999... Relocation from New York to create 3,200 jobs over 10 years, realty sources say GREATER METROPLEX - The Chase Manhattan Corp. will relocate its $210 billion trust-services division from New York City to Dallas-Fort Worth, creating up to...

Hillwood ponders selling, refinancing Alliance buildings.(Hillwood Development Corp.)
August 13, 1999... ALLIANCE - In a strategy aimed at extracting capital for further development of the booming Alliance corridor, Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood Development Co. is considering refinancing or selling off all of its Alliance buildings - 6.3 million...

Plano in talks about third big hospital.
August 13, 1999... PLANO - Southeast Plano could become the site of the city's third major hospital, the anchor tenant for a planned research and technology office park between President George Bush Turnpike and F.M. 544. Plano economic development...

Mercantile Bank makes changes.(Mercantile Bank of Fort Worth to change its name to Mercantile Bank Texas)
August 13, 1999... Bank changes its name, opens new branch after 20 years in business FORT WORTH - For 20 years. Mercantile Bank of Fort Worth has operated under the same name at the same location, an anomaly in today's banking world where mergers,...

Cardinal helps MJDesigns re-open eight area stores.
August 13, 1999... UPTOWN - With financial backing from Dallas-based Cardinal Investments Co., eight area MJDesigns stores will be back in business next month. Cardinal, its investment partners and a group of MJDesigns executives purchased the store leases...

Hotels look to Jamaica for employees.
August 13, 1999... Lack of workers forces managers to use creative means to find employees UPTOWN - Ulrich Krauer has looked as far away as Jamaica to find solutions to his hotel staffing problems. "I'd love to hire locally, but the growth in Dallas...

Fixx My PC changes name, targets Internet services.
August 13, 1999... Service911.com lines up new partners, plans an IPO down the road STEMMONS CORRIDOR - With equity investments from a group that includes Wired magazine, the search engine Ask Jeeves and high-ranking executives at Salomon Smith Barney and...

Oakwood Homes plans to close Ennis plant.
August 13, 1999... 200 jobs in question when work ceases Oct. 1 ENNIS - The nation's largest retailer of mobile homes is shutting a production plant in Ennis, a move that will affect some 200 people. The company, Greensboro, N.C.-based Oakwood Homes...

Merrill Gardens acquires Torch Health for $90M.
August 13, 1999... IRVING - In a deal topping $90 million, Irving-based senior-housing company Torch Health Care Inc. has been acquired by Merrill Gardens of Seattle. The purchase makes Merrill Gardens one of the largest private-sector senior-housing...

Frost Securities banks on Texas companies.
August 13, 1999... Number of transactions in state creates a ready market, officials believe UPTOWN - "Startups generally don't get to look like this," says Robert H. Brown Jr., the CEO for newborn investment bank Frost Securities Inc. He's not joking. ...

Cityplace preps Uptown launch; developer taps Trammell Crow to lease, manage planned office building.
August 6, 1999... UPTOWN - Dallas developer Cityplace Co. appears close to putting up an office building with about eight stories and 210,000 square feet in the red-hot Uptown market. The building will be located on land now occupied in part by the Hank...

Home-care firm HealthCor files for bankruptcy.(HealthCor Holdings Inc.)
August 6, 1999... NORTH DALLAS - HealthCor Holdings Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming more than $127 million in debts and at least 4,500 creditors nationwide. The 14-year-old home-health and respiratory-care company filed its...

Hospital expansion spurs office parks; Irwin Realty plans three Denton projects to meet medical users' needs.(Irwin Realty Group)
August 6, 1999... DENTON - Catering to the needs of physicians, Irwin Realty Group is developing three office parks in south Denton totaling about 106,000 square feet. Medical users will occupy most of the buildings, which will be near the new Denton...

Hobby Lobby, Michaels plan Metroplex growth; arts and crafts firms move to fill void left by MJ Design's departure.(Michaels Stores Inc.)
August 6, 1999... PLANO - One player may have exited the market, but competition for customers in the arts and crafts niche in the Metroplex hasn't waned. Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby Inc. operates nine stores in the Metroplex and will open two more by...

Admiral Linen expands its Metroplex laundry operation.(Admiral Linen and Uniform Service)
August 6, 1999... Firms' cleaning, routing division will relocate to southeast Fort Worth FORT WORTH - Houston-based Admiral Linen and Uniform Service is expanding its Metroplex operation, a move that will allow the company to do more of its cleaning...

Source Media sues TV Guide Inc. over deal; Dallas company seeks $60M after venture falls.
August 6, 1999... NORTH DALLAS - In what may have been a pre-emptive strike, Source Media sued TV Guide Inc. this week over the collapse of a $22 million joint venture the two companies were planning to provide content and interactive' services for cable TV...

Arter & Hadden hiring, exploring mergers.(Arter & Hadden L.L.P.)
August 6, 1999... DOWNTOWN DALLAS - The Dallas office of Arter & Hadden L.L.P. is quietly snapping up attorneys from local competitors. The Cleveland-based firm has made six hires within the last month from area firms, including Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox...

Jyly M&As down $1 billion from last month.(mergers and acquisitions in Dallas, TX)
August 6, 1999... DOWNTOWN DALLAS - The local market remained steady, if unspectacular, for mergers and acquisitions during July, with Metroplex companies taking part in 15 deals worth almost $2.2 billion. That comes from Houlihan Lokey's Mergerstat, a Los...

United Refrigeration eyes expansion; company plans move to warehouse, distribution in N. Fort Worth.
August 6, 1999... HALTOM CITY - Philadelphia-based United Refrigeration Inc. is expanding its regional operations in the Metroplex. A wholesaler of air-conditioning and heating products, United will move in March to a new 90,000-square-foot office,...

Len Roberts: optimistic CEO leads Tandy to retail success.(Profile)
August 6, 1999... FORT WORTH - Stock analyst George Sutton knows how he could kick his caffeine habit: a daily meeting with Tandy Corp.'s CEO, Len Roberts. No coffee jolt needed. "I told him once, if I was able to spend every morning with him, I'd never...

Strasburger & Price finalizes split with law firm.(Wells, Pinckney & McHugh)
August 6, 1999... Dallas firm doesn't expect loss of San Antonio lawyers to have a big impact DOWNTOWN DALLAS - John Vernon, managing partner of the Dallas-based firm of Strasburger & Price L.L.P., this week confirmed rumors of the exodus of a group of...