Dallas Business Journal articles from November 1997

Dallas Business Journal archives from November 1997

Lenders flood Texas with hype. (home-equity lenders)
November 14, 1997... But murky rules on home-equity loans cause queasiness DOWNTOWN - When Texas voters said yes to home-equity lending this month, they also agreed to submit themselves to an onslaught of TV ads, radio spots, newspaper displays, direct-mail...

Hospital fulfills exporter's dream. (Leeward International Inc.'s deal to supply a Peruvian hospital with medical equipment)
November 14, 1997... DOWNTOWN - Nearly a year ago, when Jason Sampson of Dallas arrived in Peru to do business, he had to admit that it wasn't the sort of experience he was expecting. Sampson and his father, Tom, had been hired by the local government to outfit...

Capital Senior Living raises $130 million for expansion. (Capital Senior Living Inc.)
November 14, 1997... FAR NORTH DALLAS - The timing proved a bit dicey, but Capital Senior Living Inc. has hit the public market in a big way, reeling in about $130 million to fund its expansion. Its plans include construction of six new senior living complexes in...

New retail and office project being built in Flower Mound. (Texas)
November 14, 1997... FLOWER MOUND - Five Star Development Co. Inc. has started construction on a new $30 million, 345,800-square-foot retail and office development on Cross Timbers Road in Flower Mound. The project, called Parker Square, was designed by architect...

Virginia deal opening market for Stelax. (Stelax Industries Ltd.)
November 14, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - When Stelax Industries Ltd. CEO Harmon Hardy of Dallas set out to market his patented Nuovinox cladded stainless steel reinforcement bar, he didn't envision using it to build bridges. But that's exactly what is happening....

Dallas County's top realtor makes pledge for research. (Texas; Eleanor Mowery-Sheets)
November 14, 1997... HIGHLAND PARK - With the speed at which she travels through a day; you wouldn't think real estate agent Eleanor Mowery-Sheets would have much time for "causes." But Mowery-Sheets, the top-producing residential Realtor in Dallas County,...

Great Earth expands vitamin chain. (Great Earth Companies Inc. to open 10 stores in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas)
November 14, 1997... PLANO - After more than a decade of stagnant growth, Great Earth Cos. Inc. is expanding in the Metroplex. The Hicksville, N.Y.-based retailer plans to open 10 Great Earth Vitamins stores in Dallas-Fort Worth within three years, said Chris...

Irving loses GTE support center site to Georgia town. (Texas; GTE Communications Corp.)
November 14, 1997... IRVING - The Metroplex has lost out to suburban Atlanta in the race for a new sales support center for GTE Communications Corp. Set to open next month, the facility eventually will employ 270 at an average salary of $45,000. Of the 270, about...

High tech fueling boom, new report says. (American Electronics Assn.'s report)
November 14, 1997... DALLAS - Technology is driving the country's growth and transforming the economy, according to a new report scheduled for release this week. Cybernation: The Importance of the High-Tech Industry to the American Economy, published by the...

COR Specialty to merge with Dallas Heart Group. (COR Specialty Associates)
November 14, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - One of Dallas' big-name cardiology groups is hooking up with the area's largest cardiopulmonary specialty group. The merger of six-physician-strong Dallas Heart Group with COR Specialty Associates of North Texas P.A. will be...

Face-off in Fort Worth: competing hockey teams vie for players and fans. (Texas)
November 14, 1997... FORT WORTH - Norma Larance and Pam Finch are perched atop their seats at the Tarrant County Convention Center, focused intently on the swirl of action on the ice below. "We started when the CHL started. We followed the Fire, and we had...

New bank would capitalize on Denton County's growth. (United Community Bank N.A. ;Texas)
November 14, 1997... HIGHLAND VILLAGE - Seventeen months after selling United Commerce Bank of Highland Village N.A., seven former officers have applied to charter another national bank in this Denton County suburb, located about 15 miles due north of Dallas/Fort...

Sorry, wrong number: callers have trouble finding accurate directory assistance.
November 14, 1997... IRVING - It's a common problem at the Dallas Cowboys ticket office: An out-of-town fan calls directory assistance and asks for the Cowboys ticket office. Instead, the operator gives out a number for a ticket broker. The fan, thinking the...

ZuZu regrouping with lower prices, new concept. (ZuZu Inc.)
November 14, 1997... UPTOWN - A new chief executive, lower prices and a spiced-up concept have ZuZu Inc. aiming to strengthen its position in the Mexican fast/casual food market. Last month, ZuZu co-founder Horatio Lonsdale-Hands relinquished his nine-year...

CPS Systems plans software growth, IPO. (CPS Systems Inc. plans to raise $14 million through initial public offering)
November 14, 1997... UPTOWN - CPS Systems Inc., which develops software for public sector organizations, plans to raise about $14 million through an initial public offering. The Dallas company, whose products are installed in government entities in six states,...

Canada's Mounty gold coin strikes it big with investors.
November 14, 1997... FAR NORTH DALLAS - The first gold coins to offer a guaranteed market value from a national government are trickling into the Metroplex. Canada's new 1-ounce coin, dubbed "the Mounty," is guaranteed to hold a minimum value of $310 (U.S.)...

Bill would recognize digital signatures. (Anna Eshoo's Electronic Commerce Enhancement bill)
November 14, 1997... Legislation requires federal agencies to do more of their business online WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wants the fruits of Silicon Valley to be consumed by every American. So, on Nov. 12, Eshoo, who represents...

Specialty hospitals won't close. (Columbia Specialty Hospital and Medical Arts Hospital)
November 7, 1997... Louisiana firm revamping Columbia facilities as long-term care complex MEDICAL CENTER - As 1997 began, Columbia Specialty Hospital was bustling with business. Chief Executive Tim Simmons even let hospital employees shave his head to pay...

Freight backup far outstrips truck capacity.
November 7, 1997... EAST DALLAS - Tracking company executive Todd Aaron, the senior vice president of Stevens Transport Inc. of Dallas, describes the current situation in the tracking industry as "bizarre." The nation's booming economy, combined with a giant...

Credit union tries transformation. (Affiliated Federal Credit Union)
November 7, 1997... Affiliated is first Texas credit union approved to become savings bank HURST - Forty-year-old Affiliated Federal Credit Union has won initial approval to transform itself into a mutual savings bank. It becomes the first credit union in...

Cadillac dealer honored for enterprise, long service.
November 7, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - It wasn't that the General Motors officials didn't like Rodger Meier. But they were more than a little concerned about awarding the coveted North Dallas Cadillac dealership to a man with no auto experience. "They said to me,...

California company's woes affect PageMart, PageNet. (EconoPage Inc.)
November 7, 1997... GREATER DALLAS AREA - The death of a California company that resold paging services and airtime has embroiled two Dallas paging companies in a swirl of litigation, angry customers and investigations by several law-enforcement agencies....

SkyTeam aiming to buy Denver airline. (SkyTeam Airlines Inc.)
November 7, 1997... FORT WORTH - Long-suffering startup SkyTeam Airlines Inc. has devised new plans after nearly three years of scrambling to find capital and get off the ground at Fort Worth's Meacham International Airport. The company has hired a Dallas...

Local retail executives vow weekend great despite mall. (Grapevine Mills mall)
November 7, 1997... GRAPEVINE - It could have been Black Thursday - the retail equivalent of the stock market drop. So the grand opening of the new Grapevine Mills mall on Oct. 30 made for some nervous nights for Cindy Thompson, marketing director at...

Options for area code crisis may create more headaches.
November 7, 1997... GREATER DALLAS AREA - Easing metropolitan Dallas' area-code crunch may be easier said than done. In May, the Texas Public Utilities Commission said the geographic area covered by the 214 and 972 area codes was running out of phone numbers,...

Wilcox breaks ground on project; more to follow. (Wilcox Development Co.)
November 7, 1997... BENT TREE - Wilcox Development Co. has another new project going up along the Dallas North Tollway - a 200,000-square-foot office tower that is the first of three planned phases. Wilcox Development teamed up with Intervest Cos. of Dallas and...

Metroplex continues leading state in '97 VC deals. (venture capital)
November 7, 1997... But Houston and Austin outpaced Dallas-Fort Worth in third quarter, new Coopers & Lybrand study shows DOWNTOWN - Dallas-Fort Worth maintained a 35% lead over rivals Austin and Houston in attracting venture capital during 1997, despite a...

Dallas to host global health conference. (1998 World Health Forum)
November 7, 1997... NORTH DALLAS - In February, health experts from across the globe will gather in Dallas for the 1998 World Health Forum. The forum is co-sponsored by the Health Industry Council of the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth Region and the London-based...

Markpoint adds cash-hungry Web firm to its roster. (Markpoint Co.)
November 7, 1997... FAR NORTH DALLAS - Investment firm The Markpoint Co. of Dallas has acquired a Houston-based company that shows small businesses how to make money with the Internet. Markpoint declined to specify how much it paid for Axis Technologies Corp.,...

Day school for reform Jews will open at Temple Shalom. (Isaac Mayer Wise Academy)
November 7, 1997... FAR NORTH DALLAS - Applications went out Halloween week for Dallas' newest private day school, the Isaac Mayer Wise Academy. Though she hasn't received any back yet, school head Susan Horowitz is optimistic. "I have a good handful of...

KOOO-AM charging back with national talk format.
November 7, 1997... ARLINGTON - Jay Durkin has a message for radio analysts who picked on floundering KOOO-AM (1190) over the years: Get some new material for your jokes. A revamped format, new management, high-priced talent and a new location has Texans...

Law firm staffs up health care section. (Gardere & Wynne L.L.P.)
November 7, 1997... DOWNTOWN - Law firm Gardere & Wynne L.L.P. has beefed up its Dallas health care practice, tripling the number of attorneys working full time on health-related issues. Four attorneys joined the two-member health section in October, and...

Fourth annual survey finds HMO members are satisfied. (survey done by North Central Health Plan Employer Data Information Set Coalition)
November 7, 1997... ARLINGTON - Water-cooler talk to the contrary, most Dallas-area health plan members rank their health plans as "good." That information, as well as a report card on how area plans are doing on preventive health care, was detailed in the...

It's the REIT time to invest in REITs. (real estate investment trust)(includes related article)(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... DOWNTOWN - While most of the investment world was sweating out the roller-coaster ride of the "Made in Hong Kong" market correction a few weeks ago, Southwest Securities investment executives Jeff Dargatz and Brian Murphy weren't ruffled....

REIT industry changing landscape of investments. (real estate investment trust)(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... Public investors playing with big deal makers With many key real estate investment trust indices hitting record performance numbers in 1997, what does the future hold for the industry? Reviewing the successful path of many of today's top...

Taking a tour. (Gail Sachson's Metroplex field trips)(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... Art educator sheds light on Metroplex company collections PLANO - Gail Sachson loves art. And she's devised a way to combine her passion for art and education into a way of life. Sachson is an art educator whose "Ask Me About Art" tours...

Art collections add flair to business office atmosphere.(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... DOWNTOWN - The autographed Salvador Dali sketches in Peter Denker's office are among a "mini-collection" of artwork gracing the chairman's walls. While Dali is among his favorites, Denker also has a taste for Texas artists that is echoed...

Close-knit CREW chapter forges new networking relationships. (Commercial Real Estate Women of Dallas)(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... Group raises more than $1 million in 12-year history of golf tourney For the Commercial Real Estate Women of Dallas, April Fools' Day each year marks anything but a day fraught with childish pranks. April 1 symbolizes the birth of an...

Build-to-suit option offers financial benefits.(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... You know it's time to find a new space when closets have become attractive officing alternatives for the associates. But, the big question is whether to lease an existing space or complete a build-to-suit building. Companies have to...

Need advice on a project? NAIOP provides experts. (National Assn of Industrial and Office Properties)(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... WASHINGTON - When the Washington-based National Association of Industrial and Office Properties created its project analysis service 20 years ago, they must have had the phrase "unique challenges require unique solutions" in mind. The...

Mixed-use condos: a step toward Dallas' new urbanity.(Commercial Real Estate: A Quarterly Special Report)
November 7, 1997... Developments are key to the inner city's revitalization Even the most Casual observer of the Dallas real estate market has noticed that the city's growth has recently - finally - turned inward. Though the suburbs are still growing at a...