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Castle Hills fund makes its first donations LEWISVILLE -- When developer Chris Bright first created an educational trust fund to be financed by property sales at his 2,400-acre Castle Hills [...]

Plans look shaky for a huge residential subdivision in Kaufman County KAUFMAN COUNTY -- One of the biggest masterplanned communities ever proposed in North Texas may not happen. The reason: [...]

Nonprofit group helps midsize law firms better serve clients in other cities FORT WORTH -- The Dallas office of Fort Worth-based Cantey & Hanger L.L.P. has become the first Metroplex [...]

DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- After more than three years of legal wrangling, it looks like DISD former chief of staff Shirley Ison-Newsome is finally going to get her day in court. [...]

ARLINGTON -- Local homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) has been selected as Professional Builder magazine's first-ever corporate Builder of the Year. The 33-year-old award has never been given to [...]

The Harbour Group's revenue jumped from $8.9 million in 1998 to a projected $18 million in 1999 CARRQLLTON -- Giving people advice is something Gary Williams and his partner, John [...]

300-acre parcel will contain about 800 homes once complete ROCKWALL -- Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood development company has completed the purchase of 300 acres in The Shores, an existing Rockwall [...]

FLOWER MOUND--Henry S. Miller Residential is rolling out a new prototype for its sales offices starting with a 42,236-square-foot lot the company purchased earlier this month in Flower Mound. The [...]

LANCASTER -- Lancaster's City Council has voted to shell out $180,000 for a little league field. The Royce Clayton Youth Baseball Field is part of the Texas Rangers community baseball [...]

229 homes set for Coventry project FORT WORTH -- In July 2000, Centex Homes will break ground on 129 homes in the first phase of its newest subdivision in the [...]

New offices in Houston and Dallas are on the drawing board for 2000 FAR NORTH DALLAS -- Dallas-based law firm Glast, Phillips and Murray plans to mark the new millennium [...]

DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- The seven-attorney law firm of Rohde Thomason L.L.P. will head uptown to the Crescent on Jan. 1, when it's acquired by Dallas-based Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons [...]

Former SuperSite.net president to lead Internet law practice group DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- Scott Kline, former president of San Francisco-based SuperSite.net, has joined Dallas-based Hughes & Luce L.L.P. He will lead [...]

PLANO -- Goodman Family of Builders has hired one of the foremost authorities on land acquisitions in North Texas. Matt Baynham, former chief operating officer of the Dallas office of [...]

DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- A lawsuit filed by Dallas County Criminal District Judge Robert Francis against Gaylord Broadcasting Co. L.L.P. and KTVT-TV (Channel 11) reporter Angela Hale appears to be headed [...]

National program is first of its kind, experts say FAR NORTH DALLAS -- Dallas-based homebuilder Michael Holigan has launched a first-of-its-kin nationwide home-building franchise program. Clearwater, Fla.-based Arthur Rutenberg Homes [...]

Builders, developers can receive fee rebates DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- The city of Dallas is offering area homebuilders and developers 1 million reasons to encourage the production of affordable housing within [...]

NORTH DALLAS -- The Atlanta-based labor and employment law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewert P.C. is making its move into the Metroplex by merging with the Dallas-based [...]

Lawsuit centered on Hoffmann-La Roche conduct in Dallas DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- A Dallas County jury has handed down an $18.8 million award in a sexual harassment suit filed against Nutley, [...]

PLANO -- Local production-development company Ignition Inc. has been chosen as one of 36 companies nationwide to receive an award in the 'Designs of the Decade: Best in Business 1990-99' [...]

KNOX-HENDERSON -- A townhome builder is offering an unusual promotion to attract buyers. Dallas-based City Homebuilder Inc. said it would give away new Harley-Davidson motorcycles to qualified home buyers through [...]

Cities say money being used to build needed infrastructure GREATER METROPLEX-- Rising lot development fees charged by local municipalities are making it increasingly difficult for residential developers to produce affordable [...]

DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- Chicago-based Rudnick & Wolfe has finalized its merger with Baltimore-based Piper & Marbury L.L.P in what is being touted as one of the largest law firm mergers [...]

MCKINNEY -- Dallas-based developer Tower Group Inc. will unveil plans for a 229-acre residential. subdivision valued at $11.5 million on Nov. 10. Winding Creek will contain six to seven different [...]

First project is a 300-acre, gated community near Lake Granbury FAR NORTH DALLAS -- Dallas-based developer Jackson-Shaw Co., known for its industrial, commercial and hotel construction, is branching out into [...]

Residential market requires innovative approaches GREATER DALLAS Riding the technological wave that set the residential real estate world on its ear in the early '90s, real-estate brokers in Dallas and [...]

DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- The Dallas-based law firm of Crouch & Hallett L.L.P. will split into two separate firms. Eight of the firm's 26 attorneys, will leave effective Nov. 1 to [...]

NORTH DALLAS -- Employers thinking about listening in on their employees' phone calls had better think again, especially if those calls are personal, says Dallas attorney Rogge Dunn. On Oct. [...]

Stonebridge developer has no plans to divest its holdings in the city MCKINNEY -- Denton-based Terrabrook has placed a 1,400-acre chunk of land with a fair-market value of $35 million [...]

Competition from consulting, accounting firms forces Bickel to get creative on pay DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- Dallas' Bickel & Brewer law firm is upping the ante in the battle for top [...]

Claims by San Antonio anchor echo those of former Channel 8 veteran DOWNTOWN DALLAS -- A $5 million lawsuit filed by a San Antonio television news anchor last month has [...]

FAR NORTH DALLAS -- Primacy Relocation L.L.P is planning its own move by expanding its $13 million operation into the Metroplex. The Memphis-based company acquired Dallas based Universal Relocation on [...]

Developers pursue public financing for affordable housing projects GREATER METROPLEX -- A booming housing market has its downside, according to developers and city officials. The real loser: affordable housing. More [...]

Development is part of a trend 6f new construction in this farming community MURPHY -- Dublin Murphy Estate Ltd.'s 496-home development covering 202 acres on the south side of Betsy [...]

John Vernon, managing partner of Strasburger & Price LLP in Dallas, this week confirmed rumors of the exodus of a group of San Antonio attorneys who just came on board [...]

Bickel & Brewer says Locke Purnell has documents necessary to complete legal proceedings DOWNTOWN DALLAS - TWO Dallas law firms are battling over the ownership of documents connected with the [...]

Henry S. Miller Development's residential subdivision, dubbed Summit Parc, in Duncanville, TX, will be broken ground in January 1999. The planned development, which will eventually include 750 upscale homes, will be fully developed in half a decade. Summit Parc, which will be developed in three phases, will target potential acquirers who want to reside in the Duncanville-Grand Prairie-DeSoto area and who want to live in a high-profile, cohesive and high-image community. The first phase of the planned Duncanville subdivision, on 79 acres, will feature 241 homes, with prices ranging from $120,000 to $275,000.

Urban Architecture, a Dallas, TX-based architectural services firm, took off after owner Kip Daniel put together the right team. Daniel, who founded the company in the ashes of the original Urban Architecture in Houston, TX, said a turning point for his company was when New York-based designer Rick del Monte joined the company as principal. Other key hirings allowed Daniel to focus on marketing and forming new client relationships, resulting in a division of labor that worked wonders for the company.

Food Team, a St. Louis, MO-based temp agency for food service, intends to open a branch office in South Florida in early 1999. The new branch, to be located in Orlando, FL, will be offering temp staff services to hospitals, banquet, catering firms and other firms in the area that need temporary staff services. The Orlando branch will also aim to log 4,000 labor hours a week for its temp office employees, which will be given benefits such as health insurance and paid holidays after working with the firm a minimum number of hours. Food Team, which also offers catering services and chefs, servers and bartenders for private gatherings, also intends open a branch Tampa, FL, by the middle of 1999.

Locke Purnell Rain Harrell's merger with Houston, TX-headquartered Liddell, Sapp, Zivley, Hill & LaBoon will form a new company called Locke, Liddell and Sapp that is poised to become the sixth-biggest law firm in Texas. On Oct. 16, 1998, the merger, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 1999, earned the approval of companies' investors and partners. Locke Liddell will have over 400 attorneys in offices in Austin, Houston and Dallas, TX, and in New Orleans, LA. Bruce LaBoon, who was the managing partner of Liddell Sapp, and Harriett Miers, who was the president of Dallas, TX-based Locke Purnell, will act as co-managing partners of Locke Liddell.

Jackson Walker L.L.P. of Dallas, TX, and Small, Craig & Werkenthin P.C. of Austin, TX, voted in the second week of October 1998, to merge to create the first law firm, called Jackson Walker, to run six offices in Texas. Jackson Walker will have over 230 attorneys in offices in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, San Angelo, Dallas and Austin, TX. Based on the size of attorneys, the Jackson Walker-Small Craig merger, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 1999, forms the 10th-biggest law firm in Texas. The customers of Small Craig will be benefited from Jackson Walker's skills in fields that include securities, media and intellectual property law.

Trammell Crow Residential, an Atlanta, GA-based developer, is constructing an upscale apartment complex, called The Reserve at White Rock, on the east side of White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX. The three-stage development will feature a total of 12,000 sq ft and 588 units. Lewis Bunch, South Central division partner, refused to state the exact cost of the project but said that a conservative estimate in the area would put the cost to at least $70,000 to $80,000 per unit. The first phase will feature 180 townhouses that are expected to rent for around $1.10 a sq ft. The second phase will feature 12,000 sq ft of retail space and three stories of apartments. The third phase will feature 276 apartment units expected to rent for between $700 to $1,400.

CCM Group Inc. president Diane Cheatham develops concrete homes via a tilt-wall construction technology that utilizes insulated concrete forms or ICFs. Under the Dallas, TX-based firm's home-building technology, concrete is poured into Styrofoam forms that are retained in building the homes to provide additional insulation. Cheatham's latest project includes four attached single-family homes in Travis Street, Dallas. The firm offers three-story homes priced at $625,000 with an average of 3,900 sq ft. A 25% discount on homeowner insurance rates is offered to houses built with the technology, according to Dallas, TX-based Centex Homes vice president for research and development Randy Luther.

FlashNet Communications Inc., an Internet access provider based in Fort Worth, TX, is presently the biggest privately held provider firm among around 5,000 Internet provider firms in the US because FlashNet is always concentrated on marketing as opposed to being concentrated on the technology. The firm, which was established in September 1995, unveiled an aggressive TV and radio advertising campaign, plus a massive direct-mail effort. FlashNet was ranked No. 1 in the Pacesetters 1998 midsize companies category, with 304% growth in revenue for the period 1996 to 1997. In 1997, the firm posted $18.3 million in net sales, compared with $4.5 million in net sales in 1996.

Rail companies are working to stay on top of the increasing intermodal traffic caused by the fast-growing import business from Asia. Intermodal freight, such as chemicals, raw materials and auto parts, requires several types of transportation to reach its destination. Union Pacific Railroad Co.'s major congestion problems nationwide in 1997 is believed to have contributed to the surge in the current intermodal traffic. Because of the congestion, UP was forced to lose its long-standing position as the rail industry's intermodal forerunner to its competitor, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in Fort Worth, TX. The firm, however, remains optimistic about continued growth in intermodal traffic. It has invested $20 million to expand its intermodal yard in Mesquite, TX.

Pegasus Systems Inc. of Dallas, TX, is a dominant competitor in the technological services market focused on the hotel and travel industry. The company recently signed agreements with a broad range of Internet travel booking services, including a deal with Broadcast.com. Pegasus' subsidiary TravelWeb will be a exclusive full-service travel reservations provider of Broadcast.com under the agreement. Broadcast.com will provide a range of interactive Web Advertising services, including sponsorships of its channels and audio and video gateway advertisements. TravelWeb would be able to customize its advertising for specific audiences with Broadcast.com's network of 345 radio stations and 350 college and professional sports teams.

Los Angeles, CA-based Directv Inc. has chosen the prosperous Hackberry Creek residential subdivision in Las Colinas, TX, as its poster child. According to the satellite television company, the subdivision is the premier masterplanned community in the US to offer satellite service to each home inside its borders. Directv, which is strongly competing with cabler franchise operators in the Metroplex, was able to secure Hackberry Creek for its plans through community conflict, keen salesmanship and the principle of majority.

Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., a Dallas, TX-based retail chain, contracts Jean Smith of United Commercial Realty as its exclusive broker in Dallas. Smith already completed an estimated 60 deals for Blockbuster, with the help of his own database, a comprehensive pool of information about real estate that Smith gathered himself. Smith was able to more than double Blockbuster's stores in the Metroplex, in which he has developed an in-house database of over 1,000 shopping centers. Smith's philosophy is that a broker's job is not just to collect and qualify data but also to help clients analyze the data. His goal is to provide the best service to clients and not just to be able to collect commission.

Developers and associations benefit from working together. When Phoenix Property Co. of Texas started planning Eastbridge Apartments on the east side of Central Expressway in Knox-Henderson area, it talked with the Vickery Place Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood association wanted to ensure that people who need to be relocated should be taken care of. Now, the apartment complex that was developed in the area attracts many different kinds of people because of the 'classy' feel of the 169-unit complex.

Protech International Staffing Services Inc. of Richardson, TX, supplies workers, most of them minorities, to firms involved in the technology industry. The company was founded by Michael Tieu, who expressed empathy for minorities since he himself is an immigrant who came to the US from Vietnam. He says that minorities are often overlooked in the hiring for available jobs because of their non-familiarity with the language despite the fact that most of them are well-educated and very industrious individuals in their country of origin.