Your lunchtime look at D-FW business [Your lunchtime look at D-FW business]
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Townhouses and apartments would be built at the north end of the heavily wooded tract near the DART light rail line.
The Big Story
Planned mixed-use project would be one of the first in Far South Dallas
A big mixed-use project in the works for Far South Dallas would be the first such development in the Interstate-20 corridor.
[Centurion American Development Group is getting approvals]( for the almost 275-acre project at I-20 and Lancaster Road.
The land development would include sites for construction of townhouses, apartments, retail, office and hotels.
Dallas city planners have already approved the planned development but are making minor changes in the masterplan.
-[Steve Brown](
Plus: [Find more on D-FW real estate](
The Latest
- Business & government:Â If the Texas Legislature approves a "bathroom bill" during the special session, it may be [kissing IBM's expansion]( in Texas goodbye.Â
- Leisure: [Six Flags' CEO]( retires abruptly, leaving chairman in charge of Grand Prairie-based company.
- Sports business:Â [Sports medicine complex]( at Cowboys' Frisco home to be on 'leading edge' of health care.
- Food industry:Â [Blue Bell](reopens observation deck, invites consumers to come look over its shoulder
- Real estate: [D-FW home prices]( still 'unsustainable' in new analyst report.Â
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[Body camera photo](
(Courtesy of Hicks Holdings)
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Former Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks' family invests in body camera maker
A Georgia company that makes body cameras for law enforcement has gotten [a boost from Hicks Holdings](, the investment arm of the family of financier and former Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars' owner Tom Hicks.
Hicks Holdings announced the investment Tuesday, without specifying the dollar amount. Georgia-based Utility, which recently won a contract for the Arlington Police Department, makes body cameras and in-car video systems for police departments and law enforcement agencies.
The technology has become more common as activists and groups like Black Lives Matter have called attention to fatal police shootings and demanded more information about circumstances surrounding such incidents.Â
[-Melissa Repko](
Other deals this week:
- Bain Capital's new $390 million socially conscious private equity fund made its first investments, including [Dallas organic-waste recycler Living Earth](. It recycles brush, tree limbs and other organic matter to produce mulch, compost and other landscaping materials.
- Dallas-based Rosewood Private Investments acquired health food manufacturer [Healthy Natural Inc. for $18.3 million](. The Irving-based company was sold by RiceBran Technologies. Rosewood is the family investment arm of the Caroline Hunt Trust. Dallas investment bank Allegiance Capital Corp. marketed the sale for California-based RiceBran.
- Dallas branding company Freeman [bought BaAM](, a Toronto-based production company that focuses on sports, entertainment and culture. The two companies had previously worked together on projects such as MLB FanFests in San Diego and Miami. Freeman is a [family-owned company]( with more than 7,000 employees worldwide.
- Select Energy Services Inc., a Gainesville water management company serving the oil and gas industry, announced a [stock-for-stock merger]( with Rockwater Energy Solutions Inc. Select will issue 37.95 million shares of common stock in exchange for all outstanding Rockwater stock. At Tuesday's closing price of $12.47, the 37.95 million shares were valued at more than $473 million. Â
- St. Louis-based [Ross & Baruzzini Inc. acquired]( Cage Inc., an Irving-based baggage handling consulting firm, for an undisclosed amount. Cage Inc., founded in 1997, employs 45 people who design automated baggage handling systems, passenger boarding bridges, ground support services and aircraft parking design for airports and airlines. It has worked with Fort Worth-based American Airlines since its founding.
Elsewhere in Texas
- Energy: BASF, the world's largest chemical company, [is expanding]( its plastic and chemical operations in the Houston area. (Houston Chronicle)
- Aviation:Â Frontier Airlines is [doubling the cities]( it serves with nonstop flights from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport by adding eight new routes. It's also adding [six new flights]( from San Antonio International Airport. (Austin American-Statesman & MySA.com)
- Jobs:Â [11 Texas schools](make list of 'Great colleges to work for,' and they're hiring. (Houston Chronicle)
- Agriculture:Â [Cotton-state lawmakers]( plea to Trump for help. (San Antonio Express-News)
- Leisure:Â [Water park chain](to build 'Africa-themed' resort in Central Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
(iStockPhoto)
FREE ADVICE
How debt consolidation can go wrong, and what you can do to avoid it
Daniel Montville knew a debt consolidation loan wouldn't solve his financial problems, but the hospice nurse hoped it would give him some breathing room.
Montville took out the loan in 2015, but within a year he had fallen behind on its payments and on the payday loans he got to help his daughter, a single mother with four children. The payday lenders all but cleaned out his checking account each time a paycheck landed. He's now repaying his creditors under a five-year Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan.
[Debt consolidation can feel like the answer]( to a struggling borrower's prayer, but it often doesn't address the overspending that caused the debt in the first place.
-Liz Weston, NerdWallet
Plus: [More articles on managing your personal finances.](
(Courtesy of Medical City Dallas)
GOING UP
New $125 million Women's Hospital marks ceremonial milestone
On Tuesday, Medical City Dallas celebrated the hoisting of the final beam in the structural phase of construction of its new Womenâs Hospital.Â
The [$125 million Womenâs Hospital]( will add five floors to the top of Care Tower D and feature 222 patient rooms. The expansion includes:
- 24 labor and delivery rooms
- 4 C-section operating rooms
- 84 neonatal intensive care unit rooms
- 12 VIP suites
- 27 medical/surgical rooms
- 2 floors of physician offices
Construction is expected to be complete in spring 2018.
[Wilonsky column](
The planned 100,000-square-foot []Sam's Club on North Central Expressway at Cityplace.
Featured Columnist: robert wilonsky
The Little Guy vs. The Big Box: Why there will be no Sam's Club at Cityplace
More than three years after it began, the [battle over 17 acres]( along North Central Expressway in Dallas has come to a quiet, satisfying and stunning resolution.Â
There will be no [Sam's Club in the shadow of Cityplace](. Nor, for that matter, a Home Depot or a Costco or a Lowe's or any other sprawling big box store perched atop a sea of parking spaces.
Plus: [Read additional columns by Robert Wilonsky.](
BEFORE YOU GO
Follow DFW stocks: [See how top North Texas stocks performed](, as well as the oil and gas markets and major stock exchanges.Â
Top 150: Our annual ranking of the [top 150 public companies]( in Dallas-Fort Worth.
DFW Top 100 Places to Work 2016: The Dallas Morning News and Workplace Dynamics partner each year to feature the [Top 100 workplaces](, based on ratings by the people who work at them. The 2017 ranking is in progress.
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