"We think Dallas is one of the best markets in the country,"Frank A. Mills, Ablah executive vice president, tells GlobeSt.com.The redeveloper's last buy was November 1999.

The MJDesigns complex is being viewed as a long-term holding,unlike others that have been bought, repositioned and put back onthe market. Mills says that it's just the first of a handful of DFWacquisitions that will close within a year in a game plan to beefup the four-state, three million-sf portfolio by another twomillion sf, all in the DFW metroplex. Ablah is close to inking acontract for a 500,000-sf property, situated northwest of theDallas CBD. "We've had good luck in Dallas in the past," saysMiller, who doesn't foresee that the current market slump will tossany buying plan into a holding pattern. Another three or four buyscould close by year's end, he says.

Ablah has sold off its previously acquired DFW holdings, butdoes own property in Waxahachie, south of Ft. Worth. Theredeveloper's existing portfolio, primarily industrial, consists ofholdings in its homeport, North Carolina, Memphis and Houston.