D1 03-21-2013 Set: 21:51:22 Sent by: [email protected] Business CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK STORES WE SERVICE ALL BRANDS, ALL MAKES, ALL MODELS!! HALF PRICE TUNEUP WE REPAIR ANY VACUUM Dyson, Panasonic, Hoover, Eureka, Etc. - Save over $19.00 myoreckstore.com Oreck 8 lb. Oreck 8 lb. XL 100 XL 100 BRAND NEW MODEL BRAND NEW MODEL LIGHTEST LIGHTEST ORECK EVER ORECK EVER Only 7.7 lbs. Only 7.7 lbs. • Works Great on Long, • Works Great on Long, Thick, Frieze Carpet Thick, Frieze Carpet EXCLUSIVE MODEL - ONLY EXCLUSIVE MODEL - ONLY AT AT THE ORECK STORES THE ORECK STORES Lightweight, Powerful, Easy to use. $ 149 99 NEW DALLAS 214-739-8793 LEWISVILLE 972-315-7851 HURST 817-498-7076 FRISCO 972-668-8227 ARLINGTON 817-472-4317 MESQUITE 972-686-6471 FT. WORTH 817-346-6692 PLANO 972-881-8227 POWER JACK 1-888-238-1442 1-888-238-1442 0% FINANCING FOR 12 MONTHS - W.A.C. ADVERTISEMENT FOUNDATION REPAIR Business The Dallas Morning News Section D Thursday, March 21, 2013 ........ INSIDE Robert Miller 2 Market Day 6 Classified 7-10 Jumble 8 THE MARKETS Dow bounces back to all-time high Fear of a revived debt crisis in Europe faded from the stock market, freeing the Dow to touch an all-time high. 6D ENERGY WATCH EMPLOYMENT Lower-wage workers pessimistic in survey While lower-wage American workers have accounted for many of the jobs created since the Great Recession, they’re also among the most pessimistic about career prospects and job security, a survey shows. 3D TECHNOLOGY Wal-Mart expands phone checkout test Wal-Mart is expanding a test of a new program that allows shoppers to scan items with their smartphones while they shop and then pay at self-checkout terminals. 2D RETAILERS Penney bondholders back off default push J.C. Penney said in a filing Wednesday that it received a letter Monday from its bondholders’ attorney withdrawing and rescinding the notice of default. 4D EARNINGS FedEx profit falls as clients try to save FedEx said Wednesday that third-quarter profit fell 31 percent as customers shifted to slower and less-expensive international air-shipping options. 5D FINANCIAL SERVICES Freddie Mac sues banks on rates Freddie Mac has sued 15 banks, accusing them of rigging a key interest rate and causing huge losses for the government- controlled mortgage giant. 7D Scott Burns The columnist has the day off. His column will return Sunday. Dow S&P 500 Nasdaq 10-year Treasuries 14,511.73 +55.91 1,558.71 +10.37 3,254.19 +25.09 -50.0 cents per $100 invested 1.96% $92.96 +0.80 $3.669 +0.035 Near-term futures, per barrel Dallas, regular unleaded Crude Gas Jobs, real estate & misc. Classified, 7-10D Developers in the Collin County town of Prosper are breaking ground for a $1.2 bil- lion, 4,100-home project. The Windsong Ranch com- munity on U.S. Highway 380 west of the Dallas North Toll- way will be one of the biggest new residential developments in the works in Dallas’ north- ern suburbs. “We are going to be the larg- est development in the town of Prosper,” said developer Craig Martin, founding partner of project developer Terra Verde Group. “We are trying to build a really terrific lifestyle. “We think it’s going to be an improvement to what’s being offered out there, and the re- sponse from the homebuilders shows it.” Troy Oxford/Staff Artist Fishtrap Teel Parvin Prosper Good Hope 380 2,030-acre Windsong Ranch development First phase: 275 homes 1/2 mile N D/FW DALLAS Detail $1.2 billion project to begin in Prosper EXCLUSIVE | REAL ESTATE See PROSPER Page 7D Development includes 4,100 homes, 600 acres of open space, water By STEVE BROWN Real Estate Editor [email protected]The first civilian to run the military’s $10 billion-a- year retail business has his work cut out for him. The CEO of the Dallas- based Army & Air Force Ex- change Service, Tom Shull, is the first retailer to hold the post, which had been a two-year officer assignment for 117 years. Shull, 61, joined AAFES in June un- der a 2011 Defense Depart- ment “efficiency initiatives” program, and his tenure doesn’t have a time limit. After his hiring was writ- ten up in Military Times, many of the reader com- ments were critical, touch- ing on everything from AAFES’ size availability to prices. “We’ve got to better un- derstand the dynamics of MILITARY RETAILERS Army & Air Force Exchange upgrades experience Kye R. Lee/Staff Photographer Tom Shull, CEO of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, is the first civilian to run the military’s retail business. He’s using his military and business past to bring facility upgrades, new merchandise and a better Web presence. To serve those who serve AAFES AAFES has upgraded its retail and res- taurant facilities at Fort Bliss, where the active duty pop- ulation has tripled in the past two years. By MARIA HALKIAS Staff Writer [email protected]See CEO Page 4D NICOSIA, Cyprus — Scrambling to placate interna- tional lenders, Cyprus late Wednesday proposed to na- tionalize pension funds from state-run companies and con- duct an emergency bond sale to help raise the $7.5 billion the indebted country needs to se- cure a bailout. The proposals are meant to sharply reduce the amount of money that would be raised by a controversial tax on bank de- posits, as originally planned in an international bailout pack- age totaling about $13 billion that the Cypriot Parliament re- jected the night before. But a bank tax in the revised plan, while much smaller than originally proposed, still might not be palatable to Parliament. Under the new plan, all Cypriot bank deposits of up to about $130,000 would be hit by a one-time tax of 2 percent. De- posits above that threshold would be subject to a 5 percent levy. The fallback was being cob- bled together as Cyprus’ fi- nance minister pressed his case in Moscow on Wednesday in hopes of securing additional aid from Russia, many of Cyprus tries again on bailout EUROZONE New measure would take less in taxes from depositors’ accounts See CYPRUS Page 3D FROM WIRE REPORTS The race to build the next office tower in downtown Dallas has gotten a boost to- ward the starting line. International accounting firm KPMG has finally decid- ed where it will locate its downtown office, real estate brokers who are tracking the deal say. After looking at options in Uptown, property executives familiar with the transaction say, KPMG has decided that developer Craig Hall’s planned office building in the Arts District is its best op- tion. KPMG has been scouting for new digs since its tower on Harwood Street went into foreclosure last year. The ac- counting firm wanted to keep its operations in central Dal- las and considered several new buildings in the works, leasing agents say. Brokers say that Hall Fi- nancial’s planned project on Flora Street got the edge be- cause of its location across from the Meyerson Sympho- ny Center and its shorter con- struction time. The 16-story, 454,000- square-foot office tower will be constructed on top of an existing underground park- ing garage. Hall Financial took out a KPMG reportedly moving to planned Arts District building DOWNTOWN DALLAS See KPMG Page 7D By STEVE BROWN Real Estate Editor [email protected]
Transcript
D1 03-21-2013 Set: 21:51:22Sent by: [email protected] Business CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK
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FOUNDATION REPAIRBusinessThe Dallas Morning News Section D Thursday, March 21, 2013
. . . . . . . .
INSIDERobert Miller 2Market Day 6Classified 7-10Jumble 8
THEMARKETS
Dowbouncesbacktoall-timehighFearof a reviveddebtcrisis inEurope fadedfromthe stockmarket,freeing theDowto touchanall-timehigh.6D
ENERGYWATCH
EMPLOYMENT
Lower-wageworkerspessimistic in surveyWhile lower-wageAmericanworkers haveaccounted formanyof thejobs created since theGreatRecession, they’realso among themostpessimistic about careerprospects and job security,a survey shows.3D
TECHNOLOGY
Wal-Martexpandsphonecheckout testWal-Mart is expandingatestof anewprogramthatallowsshoppers to scanitemswith theirsmartphoneswhile theyshopand thenpayatself-checkout terminals.2D
RETAILERS
PenneybondholdersbackoffdefaultpushJ.C. Penney said in a filingWednesday that itreceiveda letterMondayfrom itsbondholders’attorneywithdrawingandrescinding thenoticeofdefault.4D
ScottBurnsThecolumnist has thedayoff. His columnwill returnSunday.
Dow
S&P500
Nasdaq
10-yearTreasuries
14,511.73+55.91
1,558.71+10.37
3,254.19+25.09
-50.0 centsper $100 invested
1.96%
$92.96+0.80
$3.669+0.035
Near-termfutures,
per barrel
Dallas,regular
unleaded
Crude Gas
Jobs, real estate&misc.Classified, 7-10D
Developers in the CollinCounty town of Prosper arebreaking ground for a $1.2 bil-
lion, 4,100-homeproject.The Windsong Ranch com-
munity on U.S. Highway 380west of the Dallas North Toll-way will be one of the biggestnew residential developmentsin the works in Dallas’ north-ern suburbs.
“We are going to be the larg-est development in the town ofProsper,” said developer Craig
Martin, founding partner ofproject developer Terra VerdeGroup. “We are trying to builda really terrific lifestyle.
“We think it’s going to be animprovement to what’s beingoffered out there, and the re-sponse from the homebuildersshows it.”
Troy Oxford/Staff Artist
Fishtrap
Teel
Parvin
Prosper
GoodHope
380
2,030-acreWindsong Ranchdevelopment
First phase:275 homes
1/2 mile
N
D/FW
DALLAS
Detail
$1.2 billion projectto begin in Prosper
EXCLUSIVE | REAL ESTATE
SeePROSPER Page 7D
Development includes4,100 homes, 600 acresof open space, water
The first civilian to runthe military’s $10 billion-a-year retail business has hiswork cut out for him.
The CEO of the Dallas-based Army&Air Force Ex-change Service, Tom Shull,is the first retailer to holdthe post, which had been atwo-year officer assignmentfor 117 years. Shull, 61,joined AAFES in June un-
der a 2011 Defense Depart-ment “efficiency initiatives”program, and his tenuredoesn’t have a time limit.
After his hiringwaswrit-ten up in Military Times,many of the reader com-ments were critical, touch-ing on everything fromAAFES’ size availability toprices.
“We’ve got to better un-derstand the dynamics of
MILITARY RETAILERS
Army & Air Force Exchange upgrades experience
Kye R. Lee/Staff Photographer
Tom Shull, CEO of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, is the first civilian to run the military’s retail business.He’s using his military and business past to bring facility upgrades, newmerchandise and a better Web presence.
NICOSIA, Cyprus —Scrambling to placate interna-tional lenders, Cyprus lateWednesday proposed to na-tionalize pension funds fromstate-run companies and con-duct an emergencybond sale tohelp raise the $7.5 billion theindebted country needs to se-cure a bailout.
The proposals are meant tosharply reduce the amount ofmoney that would be raised bya controversial tax on bank de-posits, as originally planned inan international bailout pack-age totaling about $13 billionthat the Cypriot Parliament re-jected the night before.
But a bank tax in the revisedplan, while much smaller thanoriginally proposed, still mightnot be palatable to Parliament.Under thenewplan, all Cypriotbank deposits of up to about$130,000 would be hit by aone-time tax of 2 percent. De-posits above that thresholdwould be subject to a 5 percentlevy.
The fallback was being cob-bled together as Cyprus’ fi-nanceminister pressedhis casein Moscow on Wednesday inhopes of securing additionalaid from Russia, many of
Cyprustries againon bailout
EUROZONE
New measure wouldtake less in taxes fromdepositors’ accounts
SeeCYPRUS Page 3D
FROMWIRE REPORTS
The race to build the nextoffice tower in downtownDallas has gotten a boost to-ward the starting line.
International accountingfirm KPMG has finally decid-
ed where it will locate itsdowntown office, real estatebrokers who are tracking thedeal say.
After looking at options inUptown, property executivesfamiliar with the transactionsay, KPMG has decided thatdeveloper Craig Hall’s
planned office building in theArts District is its best op-tion.
KPMG has been scoutingfor new digs since its toweron Harwood Street went intoforeclosure last year. The ac-counting firm wanted to keepits operations in central Dal-
las and considered severalnew buildings in the works,leasing agents say.
Brokers say that Hall Fi-nancial’s planned project onFlora Street got the edge be-cause of its location acrossfrom the Meyerson Sympho-ny Center and its shorter con-
struction time.The 16-story, 454,000-
square-foot office tower willbe constructed on top of anexisting underground park-ing garage.
Hall Financial took out a
KPMG reportedly moving to planned Arts District buildingDOWNTOWNDALLAS
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The 2,030-acre project ison the north side of U.S. 380betweenTeel andGee roads.
In addition to hundreds ofsingle-family homes, the de-velopment will include sitesfor townhouses, apartments,retail and commercial space.
Rather than building a cen-terpiece golf course, TerraVerde has planned the neigh-borhoods around a series ofgreen spaces, small lakes andpublic spaces.
“The No. 1 amenity peoplewant is trails and open space,”Martin said. “We have 600acres of water, lakes, creeksand open space.”
The first phase of the devel-opment, which has buildinglots for 275 homes, alsowill in-clude a large commons build-ing that has a coffee shop,mar-keting center, outdoor gather-ing spaces, swimming poolsand a fitness center.
Terra Verde has been work-ing to kick off the huge devel-opment since it bought theland for almost $30 millionearly last year.
Past plansThe property had previous-
ly been planned for a mixed-use project by Cleveland-based developer Forest CityEnterprises. Forest City lastyear decided to sell offmuch ofits land development opera-tions.
“I targeted this asset be-cause I live here and knew ofthe quality of the property,”Martin said. “I negotiated anall-cash, quick deal.”
Forest City spent yearsworking on the developmentwithProsper.
“They had not moved for-
ward with putting a shovel inthe dirt because of the econo-my,” Martin said. “When weclosed the purchase, the hous-ingmarketwasshifting,andwewere full-speed ahead to get itstarted.
“We have a number ofhomebuilderslinedup.”
Highland Homes, DarlingHomes, Drees Homes andHuntington Homes will con-struct houses in the first phaseof the Windsong Ranch pro-ject.
Martinsaidthesingle-fami-ly homes will start in price be-low$300,000.
With housing starts inNorth Texas up 50 percent inthe fourth quarter, buildershave been struggling to findenough locations in the north-ernsuburbs foradditional con-struction.
“Everything south of us isfilling in,”Martin said. “The lotprices to our south have grown
quiteabit in the last sixmonthsespecially.”
‘Good location’With fewer home construc-
tion opportunities in Frisco,developersaremovingnorthtoProsper and other communi-tiesinwestCollinCounty.
“Last year, Prosperhada re-cord 450 home starts and thatwillonlycontinuein2013alongwith increases in lot prices,”said Ted Wilson, a principalwith Dallas-based housing an-alystResidentialStrategies.
“WindsongRanchhas goodlocation, and the draw is Pros-per schools,” Wilson said. “Weexpectittodoverywell.”
TerraVerde expects the firsthouses in Windsong Ranch tostart construction in early2014.
The developer has enteredinto a public-private partner-shipwithProspertoextendwa-
ter and sewer service to the de-velopment.
The overall developmentshould take about 10 years tocomplete.
“Our vision is it will be ahigh-qualitydevelopmentwithlarger lots,”ProsperMayorRaySmith said. “They are going tohavequiteabitofopenspace.
“It’s a beautiful piece ofpropertyandbeautiful terrain,”he said. “They have the moneyto do it the right way — that’simportant.”
Richardson-based TerraVerdeGrouphas landdevelop-ments across the country, in-cluding projects in California,ArizonaandTennessee.
Martin is a founding part-ner inthecompany,andhepre-viously worked with FortWorth’s Robert Bass RealtyandDallas’StaubachCo.
FollowSteveBrownonTwitterat@SteveBrownDMN.
Prosper project set to begin
Terra Verde Group
TheWindsong Ranch commons building will be built with the first phase of develop-ment. The building will include a coffee shop, a marketing center and a fitness center.
Continued fromPage1D
building permit for the devel-opment late last year. Thebuilding would open its doorsin 2015.
Representatives with HallFinancial declined to com-ment on the pending officelease with KPMG.
And KPMG corporatecommunications officials didnot respond to a request forinformation about a plannedmove of its downtown Dallasoffice.
KPMG was also interestedin Crescent Real Estate’s of-fice and retail tower plannedon McKinney Avenue, bro-kers said.
In 2001, KPMG consoli-dated its North Texas opera-tions into about 200,000square feet at its current loca-tion at 717N.Harwood.
The 34-story KPMG Cen-tre was sold at a foreclosure
auction last summer by in-vestors who held mortgage-backed securities used to fi-nance the tower.
If KPMG moves as expec-ted to Hall Arts Center, it willbe the second major tenant atKPMG Centre to depart thebuilding for a location alongRoss Avenue.
Insurance firm LocktonCos. just announced its planto leave the building for newoffices at 2100 Ross.
The Hall Arts Centerbuilding is among a handfulof downtown and UptownDallas office projects thathave been hoping to secure alead tenant.
With a major lease inhand, real estate developersare more comfortable instarting work on a large officeproject.
Follow Steve Brown on Twitterat @SteveBrownDMN.
Hall Financial
Real estate brokers say KPMG has picked Craig Hall’splanned Arts District office tower for its downtown office.
KPMG reportedlypicks Hall tower
Continued fromPage1D
WASHINGTON — Fred-dieMac has sued15 big inter-national banks, includingJPMorgan Chase, Bank ofAmerica and Citigroup, ac-cusing them of rigging a keyinterest rate and causinghuge losses for the govern-ment-controlled mortgagegiant.
Freddie filed the lawsuitThursday in federal court inAlexandria, Va. It names thebanks that set theLondon In-terbankOffered Rate, knownas Libor, which provides thebasis for trillions of dollars incontracts around the world,including mortgages, bondsand consumer loans.
In a growing scandal, twobig British banks and Swit-zerland’s largest have beenfined hundreds of millions ofdollars by U.S. and Britishregulators for manipulatingLibor.
A U.S. watchdog hasfound that Freddie and itslarger sibling Fannie Mae to-gether may have lost morethan $3 billion on their in-vestments from banks’ raterigging.
The banks schemed to-gether daily to manipulateand hold down the value ofLibor from August 2007
through at least May 2010,Freddie alleges in its suit.They “acted collectively tosuppress … Libor, both tohide their institutions’ finan-cial problems and to boosttheir profits,” the suit says.
The staff of the inspectorgeneral for the FederalHousing Finance Agency,which oversees Freddie andFannie, gave the estimate ofthe losses late last year. Thestaff ’s memo said that Fred-die and Fannie sustained thelosses on $1 trillion in mort-gage securities and other in-vestments linked to theLibor.
Taxpayers so far have paidabout $170 billion to rescueFreddie and Fannie, whichsuffered huge losses fromrisky mortgages and werebailed out by the govern-ment in September 2008 atthe onset of the financial cri-sis. The two companies to-gether own or guaranteeabout half of all U.S. mort-gages, or nearly 31 millionhome loans.
Fannie Mae spokesmanAndrew Wilson saidWednesday the company isweighing a possible lawsuitof its own.
Spokesmen for JPMorganChase & Co., Bank of Ameri-ca Corp. and Citigroup Inc.declined to comment on thesuit.
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — JPMor-gan Chase said Wednesdaythat it will take steps to pro-tect its customers from feesand other charges that pay-day lenders may slap onthem.
The bank said it will limitthe fees that customers arecharged when they overdrafttheir accounts to make pay-ments to payday lenders.
It will also “enhance com-munication and require addi-tional training” for employeesto make it easier for custom-ers to stop payments. Thebank will also make it easierfor customers to close theiraccounts evenwhen there arepending charges, includingpayday lender payments.
Payday lenders are a con-troversial sliver of the finan-cial system. They offer short-term loans, usually targetingthe cash-strapped poor. Theyhave high interest rates,mak-ing it hard for customers torepay the loans, and the spiral
worsens when the paydaylenders charge extra fees.
JPMorgan and othermainstream banks do notmake payday loans. But theydo allow the payday lendersaccess to their customers.TheNew York Times reported lastmonth that JPMorgan, Bankof America and Wells Fargoallow payday lenders to auto-matically withdraw moneyfrom customers’ accounts,even in states where paydaylending is banned. In somecases, theTimes reported, thebanks allow lenders to tapchecking accounts even afterthe customers have beggedfor a reprieve.
Ryan McInerney, thebank’s head of consumerbanking, said in a statementthat the bank intended toprotect customers from “un-fair and aggressive collec-tions practices.”
“Some customers agree toallow payday lenders or otherbillers to draw funds directlyfrom their accounts, but theymaynot know someof the ag-gressive practices that canfollow,” he said.
TheAssociatedPress
Freddie Mac sues15 major banks
FINANCE
Bank to aid customerswith payday loan woes
FINANCIAL SERVICES
JPMorgan, Citigroupamong those accusedof rigging interest rate
JPMorgan says it willhelp shield accountsfrom unfair fees
