Jim Conrow, president of Conrow Co., isn't saying how much he paid for the 8.8 acres on the southeast corner of Eldorado Parkway and Medical Center Drive, primarily because he doesn't want to tip his hand if it's brought to market. The corner is in the heart of roughly one million sf that's under way, proposed or built for the off-ramp area of Eldorado Parkway and US Highway 75/Central Expressway.

"It's a going-home corner, almost," Conrow tells GlobeSt.com. The tract's neighbors practically guarantee success for Conrow, regardless of his decision. The national names that attract shoppers are in place or coming.

Word is that a 300,000-sf power center will rise on the southwest corner. Right up the road is the site for a 90,000-sf first phase to Eldorado Plaza, a lifestyle center designed with 230,000 sf, and right down the road is McKinney Airport, where upgrades are under way in anticipation that it can end up a quasi-relief valve for the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. And, that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Conrow says McKinney "is one of the bright spots in the economy right now." Even Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, reportedly has grabbed a piece of the action in a partnership that is talking about the development of some 1,000 apartments and a golf club.

Conrow, who's been wheeling and dealing real estate in Dallas since 1979, describes himself as a small player, basically a land investor, with a small shop. He says he doesn't know how many others were in the running for the American Realty Trust tract. "I know I put in an offer and I got it," says Conrow, who also owns the Bent Tree Child Development Center, a private preschool in Addison.

Conrow says the newly acquired land, zoned for retail and office, is laid out in three lots--one of which might end up holding a private preschool similar to his 25,000-sf Bent Tree location. Again, it's an option as is the negotiation with a suitor for a chunk of the tract.

Seller American Realty Trust is tied to American Realty Investors Inc., which last fall started pushing on a capital-raising campaign to close a $61-million merger with affiliates, Transcontinental Realty Investors Inc. and Income Opportunity Realty Investors Inc., as a settlement to a lawsuit by California stockholders. The trio of companies is controlled by Basic Capital Management, which is owned by the Gene E. Phillips Children's Trust. The trust representative, Gene E. Phillips, is a powerbroker, with a colorful background, who's said to be the largest landowner in Dallas.