ARLINGTON, TX-With a preference to own, Crown Equipment Corp. scoops up 8.2 acres at a key interstate junction after a seven-month search of Great Southwest properties. The project, still on the drawing board, will break ground in the fall.

ADDISON, TX-Deshta Hospitality takes an early-out on a Wingate Inn franchise and replaces it with a 15-year Holiday Inn pact. The move from a limited service to full-service branding takes aim at winning meeting and training center trade.

DALLAS-Brokers are talking about stepped-up activity, particularly those coming to the table "three and four years" early. Building owners save on down time and costly finish-outs while tenants get flat-rate, discounted pacts for long terms and minimal TIs.

DALLAS-Becknell Wholesale Co. buys five acres in Buckner Business Park to build an office/warehouse to get room to expand. The $1-million-plus project will have 27,000 sf available for lease when keys turn in January 2005.

LEWISVILLE, TX-First American Broadcasting Corp. takes down 57 acres adjacent to a landfill after spending six months securing municipal and FCC approvals. The land, selling at full price, will house four to six radio towers.

DALLAS-The investment firm has an anchor tenant close to signing, talks underway with two other nationals and a bank sizing up a pad site. A shuttered 39,000-sf grocery store at a key intersection is making a return with a rehab and new name, Columbia Place.

DALLAS-The firm's first major hiring wave reunites GLV president James Vanderslice with Michael Hueppeler, who dissolved IMMO Capital to be second in command. Other newcomers are Michael Finley, financial analyst, and Roger Woodside, assistant VP.

DALLAS-Stinnett Thiebaud & Remington, heading into its fifth year, closes a 23,000-sf lease for the 25th floor in the landmark high-rise. The highly chased deal, which takes effect in December, adds 3,000 sf of extra room and puts the team on one floor.