DALLAS-The state's health-care industry is prime picking grounds for a Minneapolis nonprofit that has bought five and is negotiating for possibly another six nursing centers. Dallas-based Malone Mortgage has arranged a first-round buy of slightly more than $28 million.

LAS COLINAS, TX-Preliminary plans for a 600-acre New Urbanism traditional neighborhood in the heart of upscale Las Colinas is on the drawing boards. The town's development manager has retained the master artist of the planning trades to lead the way.

DALLAS-WorldTravel BTI is on the move, signing its second lease in about a month. The corporate travel agent will be occupying 34,567 sf at Park West. The deal complements an 18,433-sf signing for Two Lincoln Centre, which it plans to occupy in June.

IRVING, TX-Cousins Stone has selected a new vice president of marketing and research. Cynthia Cowen, the department's director, will take over the role, effective immediately.

DALLAS-Industrial properties in the Great Southwest and Dallas have new owners, thanks to recent sales by a Grubb & Ellis Co. brokerage team. A 196,000-sf General Foods distribution site will now be used by a North Carolina paper company.

DALLAS-Everest Broadband has the inroad, a 23-million sf contract for 45 Crescent class-A office buildings in five cities. Now, it wants to set up a Texas point of presence, zeroing in on Dallas and Houston as part of its 2001 expansion plan.

FT. WORTH-Deals are waiting to be sealed, but many will hinge on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut, say Tarrant County powerbrokers and a leading in-state economist. The 2001 call is lateral growth, with retail being the strongest gainer.

FT. WORTH-For the third time in its history, a 40-story CBD high-rise has been divorced from one name and wedded to another. The UPR Plaza, formerly known as Continental Plaza, will henceforth be known as Carter Burgess Plaza, a right resulting from a recently signed lease.