HOUSTON-A vacant building in southwest Houston gets a new owner, the Mental Health and Mental Retardation agency of Harris County. The class C structure is located at 7011 Southwest Freeway in the city's Sharpstown area.

FT. WORTH-Alliance Airport's flying high these days, copping a ranking in the top 25 cargo facilities in the nation. The airport has increased its traffic 57.3% since 1998 and already this year has bested 1999's total by 56% - showing the largest hike of any facility in the world, officials say.

DALLAS-Two leading firms have been selected to simultaneous market a 489,690-sf industrial building in Liberty, a town midway between Houston and Beaumont. Hard at work will be Binswanger's Dallas office and Colliers Oxford.

AUSTIN-A city developer, known for its master-planned residential communities, is undertaking an 88,000-sf office complex in the city's southwest sector. The project will break ground by year's end and come to market in December 2001.

AUSTIN-One of the city's largest industrial developers plans to build another 400,000 sf of industrial space at a development that has 370,000 sf delivered or ready to deliver, GlobeSt.com has learned. Transwestern also has set a groundbreaking later this month on a 133,000-sf second phase at its Cameron Road Corporate Park.

HOUSTON-The city welcomes its second hypermarket by Auchan USA, a Paris, France-based retailer. The full-line discount store opens at a former Target location.

DALLAS-A Dallas-based development venture breaks ground in November on a $13 million spec office project, the first of a $100 million development plan for the Dallas-Ft. Worth region. Simultaneous construction of a four-building complex will headline the undertaking.

AUSTIN-Retailers are hustling to keep pace with the city's feeding frenzy for residential and commercial space. Where there's that kind of activity, there's customers - a rainbow of opportunity that has more than 500,000 sf of retail space under construction or in the works.