Dallas Business Journal articles from May 1998

Dallas Business Journal archives from May 1998

Day Star proposes SW Dallas outlet mall. (Day Star Development)
May 29, 1998... Developer seeks tax financing for center SOUTHWEST DALLAS - A California developer of outlet malls hopes to sell Metroplex shoppers on yet another off-price center - one with canals and gondolas. Day star Development in Woodland Hills,...

Buyer of One Main Place plans to upgrade tower. (RAK Acquisitions Corp. to renovate Dallas office building)
May 29, 1998... DOWNTOWN - A New York investment group has acquired One Main Place for about $65 million and plans to upgrade its common areas and retail amenities. RAK Acquisitions Corp., a subsidiary of Manhattan-based RAK Group, has bought the...

Upscale child care chain chooses Plano campus. (Creme de la Creme Inc.)
May 29, 1998... PLANO - Come August, parents here will have an upscale child care option that more resembles a resort or an amusement park than a traditional day care center. Denver-based Creme de la Creme Inc. is building the $4.5 million child care campus...

WinStar to close customer service center, cut 105 jobs. (WinStar Communications Inc. to stop its Dallas operations)
May 29, 1998... STEMMONS CORRIDOR - In the continuing saga of operations cutbacks at telecom-related companies, WinStar Communications Inc. is moving the operations of its Dallas customer-service center to Ohio. The move will mean 105 layoffs here. The...

GTESS sets sights on health claims.
May 29, 1998... Software company hoping to cash in with its data management RICHARDSON - A local software company is shifting more of its data management services to target the health care market, hoping to get a bigger slice of that paper-intensive...

Thomas Group immersed in management quandary.
May 29, 1998... Irving consulting firm provides 'well-liked' services, but internal problems deliver blow to its bottom line IRVING - As its 20th anniversary approaches, Thomas Group Inc. appears to be in need of some of the management consulting services it...

Pegasus TransAir enjoying success as a young company.(Company Profile)
May 29, 1998... GRAPEVINE - It's only been four years since Ken Beam left the world of corporate freight forwarding to start his own logistics company in the Metroplex. In that time, he's built Pegasus TransAir Inc. to $9 million revenue in 1997 with...

Accurate Die moving Dallas operation to McKinney plant.
May 29, 1998... McKINNEY - Accurate Die Cutting, a graphic convening company with $8 million to $10 million in annual revenue, is moving its Print Art division from Dallas to McKinney, where the company plans to construct a $2.5 million, 65,000-square-foot...

Ormed to open first U.S. sales office in Dallas.
May 29, 1998... McKINNEY - Montgomery Kone, an Illinois-based manufacturer and distributor of escalators and elevators with $600 million in annual revenue and 4,500 employees, will move two divisions from Atlanta and Illinois to McKinney by the end of year....

Allegiance Telecom plans one of area's largest IPOs.
May 29, 1998... Company capitalizes on phone exchange carrier market, could raise more than $750 million before its first birthday STEMMONS CORRIDOR - Less than a year after its birth, Allegiance Telecom Inc. is planning one of the largest public offerings...

Microsoft considers Las Colinas. (Texas)
May 22, 1998... Antitrust problems don't affect software giant's search for large campus LAS COLINAS - Despite the federal government's antitrust onslaught, software giant Microsoft Corp. is planning to dramatically expand its presence in the Metroplex....

Hicks planning IPO for sports, entertainment enterprises. (Dallas Stars' owner Tom Hicks)(initial public offering)
May 22, 1998... IRVING - Tom Hicks, owner of the Dallas Stars and soon-to-be owner of the Texas Rangers, plans to take his burgeoning sports and entertainment concerns public within six to 12 months. said a top Stars executive. Dallas Stars President James...

Lakeside city going upscale. (Lewisville, Texas)
May 22, 1998... Developers bet on fancy golf courses and $500,000 homes THE COLONY - Bill Longo says he's starting to feel like "trailer trash" in the city he helped found 24 years ago. Longo, The Colony's first mayor to serve a full term, thought his...

New York developer plans urban center office tower. (J.A. Green Development Corp.)
May 22, 1998... LAS COLINAS - Low-profile J.A. Green Development Corp. hopes to beat two other developers in building the first new high-rise to go into Irving's Las Colinas Urban Center in a decade. The privately held, family-owned company is also moving...

NationsBank Plaza on sales block. (Prudential Insurance Co. of America)
May 22, 1998... DOWNTOWN - The single largest skyscraper in the Metroplex and a landmark of the Dallas skyline went on the sales block last week. Prudential Insurance Co. of America is selling NationsBank Plaza at 901 Main St. It is the last in a long line...

Cheesecake Factory signs deal at LincolnPark. (Cheesecake Factory Inc.)
May 22, 1998... The popular restaurant signs its first lease in the market with 'several' more in the works NORTH DALLAS - The Cheesecake Factory Inc. has landed a sweet spot in Dallas. The Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based restaurant chain (Nasdaq: CAKE)...

Law firm Gardere & Wynne nabs Warren & Perez for bigger IP unit. (intellectual property)
May 22, 1998... DOWNTOWN - Dallas-based Gardere & Wynne L.L.P. is beefing up its intellectual property division by absorbing Warren & Perez, a Dallas firm specializing in patents, trademarks and the protection of other proprietary information. Terms of the...

Hard-charging Reunion Bank planning two new branches.
May 22, 1998... DOWNTOWN - When veteran banker Joe R. Goyne took over $73 million Reunion Bank just before Christmas, he promised an aggressive campaign to expand the 22-year-old Dallas independent. The president and CEO needed little more than 100 days to...

Ghiglieri surrenders in branch banking battle. (NationsBank Corp's Commissioner Catherine A. Ghiglieri)
May 22, 1998... Whipped by NationsBank, commissioner now says other banks may collapse their state charters DOWNTOWN - The state's top banking regulator is ready to let other super-regionals follow NationsBank Corp.'s example and collapse their Texas...

Tandy Brands snatches up rival's assets in acquisition. (Tandy Brand Accessories Inc.)
May 22, 1998... Arlington leather manufacturer pays $18.6 million for AR Accessories' holdings, patents and popular brands ARLINGTON - Tandy Brands Accessories Inc. will purchase a major chunk of assets from a chief rival now in bankruptcy. Industry...

LifeCare plans move to Dallas. (LifeCare Management Services)
May 15, 1998... Shreveport company buys closed Charter Hospital in southwest Fort Worth MEDICAL CENTER - A Louisiana company that has rescued two local hospitals from closure will move its headquarters to Dallas and buy a shuttered psychiatric hospital in...

Renaissance hotel set for Richardson. (Marriott Renaissance Hotel; Richardson, Texas)
May 15, 1998... TELECOM CORRIDOR - John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. has announced plans for a 330-room Marriott Renaissance Hotel in the Galatyn Park Urban Center. The full-service hotel and conference center is slated to break ground in February 1999 at North...

Lufthansa pushes D/FW volume. (Lufthansa Airlines; Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport)
May 15, 1998... German airline plots new moves to foil express-service rivals D/FW INTERNATIONAL - Lufthansa Airlines is gunning for a bigger share of the air freight market at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As part of the effort; the German...

Greyhound: teaching the old dog some new tricks. (Greyhound Lines Inc.'s new logo,, new advertising campaign and new bus model)
May 15, 1998... NORTH DALLAS - Over the next 12 months, the nation's largest commuter bus company, Greyhound Lines Inc. (AMEX: BUS), will roll out a new logo, a new advertising campaign and a new model of bus that will be painted all-white. But new...

F.T. Mortgage to consolidate in new headquarters building.
May 15, 1998... NORTH DALLAS - The 10th-largest mortgage firm in the United States has signed a deal to put up a 250,000-square-foot office building in Irving to serve as its new national headquarters. Dallas-based F.T. Mortgage Cos. will be consolidating...

DCR acquisition will bolster info-tech training. (Diversified Corporate Resources Inc.'s acquisition of Alliance Training Center Inc.)
May 15, 1998... Purchase to put more workers in DCR pipeline; employment firm's already 'poster boy' for AMEX NORTH DALLAS - Employment firm Diversified Corporate Resources Inc. of Dallas is buying an eight-classroom training center, aiming to speed...

Chorum Technologies moves to Richardson, finds backers. (Richardson, Texas)
May 15, 1998... RICHARDSON - A Colorado company whose technology cuts the costs and increases the capacity and flexibility of fiber-optic networks is moving to Richardson. Chorum Technologies will initially have around 20 people in a 20,000-square-foot...

Power retail center planned near proposed Frisco mall. (Stonebriar Mall project)
May 15, 1998... FRISCO - George Allen is betting plenty on the thrice-delayed Stonebriar Mall project - $100 million, to be exact. Allen is a partner in Briar Preston Ridge Ltd., which plans to develop a $100 million, 1.1 million-square-foot power retail...

Allie Beth Allman: realtor built her career on grit - and a network of friends. (Henry S. Miller/Grubb Ellis vice president)
May 15, 1998... She's been a sorority girl, a cheerleader, a homecoming queen and, for 10 years, she was the official "Sweetheart" of the Pangburn Candy Co. But it wasn't sugar and spice that got Allie Beth Allman where she is today. Now an executive vice...

Restaurants Unlimited scouting for a new site.
May 15, 1998... Palomino owners scour Dallas to open Kincaid's, an upscale steak-and-seafood eatery NORTH DALLAS - Restaurants Unlimited Inc. hopes to duplicate the swift success of Palomino Euro Bistro in the Metroplex with a new steak-and-seafood concept....

Food fight! (Wild Oats Market Inc.)
May 8, 1998... Wild Oats takes aim at Whole Foods in Dallas natural foods competition UNIVERSITY PARK - Grab your Birkenstocks and hemp shirts and get set to man, er, person, the ramparts - an organic food fight is about to break out. Wild Oats Market...

Nationsbank wins war, kills charter. (NationsBank Corp)
May 8, 1998... DOWNTOWN - Interstate branching arrived for Texas banks this week - not with a fanfare, but with a phone call. When its offices opened on Thursday, May 7, the biggest bank in Texas instantly became a subsidiary of North Carolina-based...

Aureus Group eyes assisted living niche. (startup company Aureus Group LLC)
May 8, 1998... UPTOWN - A startup backed by Rosewood Properties and other local financial heavyweights is scouting for real estate investments in the assisted living field, aiming to build a $100 million portfolio by year's end. The new outfit, called...

$80 million outlet mall proposed for Allen. (Allen, Texas)
May 8, 1998... ALLEN - A leading developer of outlet malls is sailing into the Metroplex with plans for a 650,000-square-foot off-price center that could intensify the race to put up three new regional malls in North Texas. Chelsea GCA Realty Inc. has...

Greater Dallas Chamber will buy downtown office building.
May 8, 1998... DOWNTOWN - The Greater Dallas Chamber plans to buy a downtown office building to replace the space it currently leases in Renaissance Tower. According to sources close to the deal, the chamber has put 1505 Elm Building under contract. It is a...

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may sell Hiltop to Olympus Realty. (Hiltop Inn; Olympus Real Estate Corp.)
May 8, 1998... EAST DALLAS - A Dallas real estate investment group reportedly wants to send the long-ailing Hiltop Inn into the Afterworld. A representative of Olympus Real Estate Corp. confirmed that it is negotiating to buy the run-down property from the...

Denton County's incentives package stirs interest.
May 8, 1998... New program attracts largest commercial development project in years; developers hail 'proactive' abatements DENTON - The author of a new tax abatement program for Denton County says the program could spur development of at least 80,000 acres...

City officials promise to fund interchange at Cockrell Hill. (Cockrell Hill, Texas)
May 8, 1998... OAK CLIFF - Construction of the on-again, off-again Cockrell Hill Road interchange in Oak Cliff now is on again. Dallas city officials have promised to find money somewhere for the $9.5 million project, which faltered last month when bids...

ILD expects to raise $60 million in IPO. (ILD Telecommunications Inc; initial public offering)
May 8, 1998... FAR NORTH DALLAS - ILD Telecommunications Inc.: which provides prepaid phone services and other telecom services, plans to raise a maximum of $60 million in an initial public offering. The Dallas company is planning to grow by acquiring some...

Venture capital deals lag in first quarter. (1998)
May 8, 1998... DOWNTOWN - The flow of venture capital slowed substantially to the Metroplex and to the entire state during the first quarter of 1998, according to an exclusive study from professional services firm Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P. Local companies...