HOUSTON-It's the state's fourth largest city and the nation's largest border town, but it's a daily struggle for a share of Texas prosperity. El Paso's distribution strength shines as Houston's PM Realty seals 289,600 sf for new tenants and old at a mid-1980s industrial park.

CARROLLTON, TX-It's not the weather, but the business that has a southwestern Pennsylvania firm doing a lock, stock and barrel move of its headquarters. By month's end, Cerdec Ceramics will be occupying 27,624 sf at Valwest Business Park.

RICHARDSON, TX-Stanford Microdevices has inked a five-year lease for 20,832 sf at 1212 E. Arapaho Rd. The company plans to occupy the site in July in a move that will more than quadruple its office space.

DALLAS-Big-box regulations, a growing phenomenon in North Texas, will drive up land and construction costs, but it won't keep retailers out of the neighborhood. Many, like Wal-Mart, are doing whatever it takes to set up shop.

FT. WORTH-Williams TravelCenters is pumping $250 million into an aggressive rollout along the nation's interstates to become one of, and possibly the, premier operator in the nation. Sixty-nine TravelCenters will be on line by the first week of April.

DALLAS-Wyndham International is hoping a recently inked pact will serve as a model in other major cities. The hotel chain will be getting supplies and putting $75,000 into an internship program for On-Target, a Dallas-based minority-owned logistics provider.

DALLAS-G. Ronald Witten is leaving M/PF Research after spending 22 years to make it a leading multifamily data provider. Investment counseling is his new calling and he is negotiating for space so the venture can be up and running by month's end.

THE COLONY, TX-A retail project is on the drawing boards for this suburb north of Dallas. NEC Paige/121 Ltd. has bought 16.8 acres for a development that earmarks 14.5 acres for a Home Depot. The property is along Texas 121, a development hotspot these days.