DALLAS-North Texas' tallest building is marking a first, using an innovative rooftop crane system for a top-to-bottom scrubbing. The 1.9 million-sf Bank of America Plaza is the first in the nation to be outfitted with the system.

DALLAS-In "bread and butter" sales, a Grubb & Ellis VP Tuesday closed deals on older multifamily complexes in Mesquite and Garland. The combined take tallies about $4.3 million. The market has definitely picked up in the past two months, says the broker.

DALLAS-The first spade of dirt turns today on a $10-million imaging center prototype being developed by Dallas-based Cirrus Group. On hand will be key execs from Toshiba Corp., including its CFO, to welcome the first in a series of Cirrus-Toshiba centers.

DALLAS-The Dallas-based WebRealEstate.com is bolstering its property database, using a unique strategic alliance with TXU Energy Services. The deal, in the works for five months, aims to leverage TXU's market share in light of energy deregulation.

GRAPEVINE, TX-The developers of Silver Lake Centre in Grapevine are close to signing a high-end retailer for 19 acres near Opryland and courting hotel developers for a 15-acre site that are willing to form an alliance with the neighboring conference center.

ARLINGTON, TX-A Pennsylvania auto glass company and a Houston-based ice cream company have setup their first distribution centers in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. The Great Southwest deals also brings an expansion for an Arlington packaging company.

PHOENIX-In a $5.5-million lease, LandAmerica Financial Group has secured 38,742 sf in a premier Phoenix office building. Four LandAmerica affiliates will be consolidated come December, when some $500,000 of tenant improvements wrap up.

DALLAS-It's time to renegotiate, restructure, renew or relocate in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex as direct and sublease space hit nearly 35 million sf. Professionals are hopeful the region will emerge first, as usual, when the nation's economy rebounds.