🛞GM's $10M sprucing in Arlington; Goff busy with spa & investment; One leader is out, one is coming.

General Motors filed for a $10.5-million, truck-dock expansion at its Arlington Assembly plant, 2525 E. Abram St. The state filing, registered Oct. 30, covers 6,700 square feet of new exterior siding, foundations, slab, roofing, grading, dock equipment and paving. Work is scheduled from Nov. 1 to Sept. 3, 2027.

Fort Worth-based Canyon Ranch opened Canyon Ranch Austin, a wellness resort on Lake Travis in Spicewood. The 600-plus-acre resort has 141 guest rooms and a 40,000-square-foot spa with 40 treatment rooms. All-inclusive stays start at $1,325 per person per night; homes in its Ranch Home Collection start at $3.8 million. Canyon Ranch was purchased by Goff Capital in 2017.

Frisco-based GameSquare Holdings completed the acquisition of sports, music and entertainment IP assets from FanEngine Holdings as contemplated by a previously announced agreement. The deal enables GameSquare to go from reaching fans on behalf of others to owning and monetizing fan relationships directly. GameSquare backers include Jerry Jones and John Goff. 

Fort Worth-based Distribution Solutions Group set a Nov. 27 online special meeting for stockholders to vote on its $35-a-share cash buyout by affiliates of LKCM Headwater Investments and CEO J. Bryan King. The group already owns about 78.5% of the shares, thus the deal also needs a majority of votes cast by unaffiliated holders.

Arlington approved a master development agreement with Hines on a mixed-use employment center. The land — at Interstate 30 and Collins Street — is owned by the city and the Arlington Economic Development Corporation. It is one of the largest land assemblages available in Arlington with a prominent location near I-30, the Entertainment District, corporate headquarters and D-FW International Airport. The master plan and zoning and plat approvals are expected by January 2028, with pre-development costs of up to $1,334,559 coming from the city's Innovation Venture Capital Fund.

Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Company, in a joint venture with Houston-based Morgan Group, purchased a 3-acre site from H-E-B grocery in Dallas' Oak Lawn area for a 7-story, 362-unit luxury apartment building.

Texas wines claimed the Grand Champion honor and more than half of the competition’s Platinum and Gold medals in the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo’s 2027 Vine 2 Wine International Wine Competition. Professional double-blind judging evaluated the 600+ international wines at the October 17-19 competition. See the list of winners.

A trade-press report on the Federal Railway Administration's latest awards includes two in Tarrant and eight in Texas. $46 million was allotted to the Texas Department of Transportation for design and construction of the RM 2871 overpass over Union Pacific tracks and Aledo Road in Fort Worth. And $5.6 million to Tarrant County for development and final design to eliminate a BNSF crossing in Fort Worth and Haslet.

Fort Worth-based Sanara MedTech sold the assets of its Tissue Health Plus subsidiary, including its business software and related intellectual property, to an unnamed buyer for about $2 million plus earnout rights. Sanara is being bought by MiMedx Group in a $350-million deal that the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing. 

Multiple shareholder rights and securities litigation law firms are seeking shareholders who may have been harmed after Fort Worth-based FirstCash Holdings' third-quarter earnings report October 22. The trigger point was that its operating income for the American First Finance segment fell 28% year-over-year. The company attributed the sharp decline to lost earnings from the 2024 bankruptcies of merchant partners Conn’s and American Freight. Additionally, lease and loan origination volume dropped 15%, causing FirstCash stock to plunge 14.75% to close at $184.78.

Andrea Ash has stepped down as President & CEO of the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation. During her tenure, she guided the Foundation through Covid and its turbulent economic times. Madison Owen, the Development Manager, will serve as Interim Executive Director. 

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Texas Senator John Cornyn announced that Denton and Dallas counties and My Health My Resources of Tarrant County received a total of $2,677,198 for court programs to support veterans, individuals, and families struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced four Skills Development Fund grants totaling $1,726,092 and administered by the Texas Workforce Commission to help train workers in the Houston and Rio Grande Valley areas. The largest single grant — $782,998 — will fund training for 261 workers at Tesla.

Barnes & Noble will open a 12,000-square-foot store Wednesday at Presidio Junction in north Fort Worth, occupying the former Sun & Ski Sports space. The store is one of two new Barnes & Noble openings in Fort Worth this month. Younger Partners Investments acquired Presidio Junction, at I-35W and North Tarrant Parkway, earlier this year. 

Fort Worth ranked seventh among the nation’s best large cities for retirement in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 rankings, ahead of Dallas at No. 21. The rankings evaluated more than 850 cities on six measures: affordability, quality of life, health care, retiree taxes, job market, and population and migration among adults 55 and older.

The year is winding down, but Fort Worth’s restaurant pipeline remains busy. Openings expected before year-end include Commodore Tavern & Terrace, La Pistola Kitchen + Saloon, Flora House, Beverly’s Downtown and Station & Vine. Musume is re-opening and Piattello Italian Kitchen is moving to Clearfork. Looking ahead, MiYa Chinese, Uchibā, Al Biernat’s and a re-imagined Roy Pope promise more options in 2027. Find details here.

Defense industry news:

• Lockheed Martin announced partnerships with 11 organizations as part of 25Forward, the company’s five-year, $25-million initiative commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.  The 25Forward mission will safeguard stories and lessons of Sept. 11, as well as military service; serve survivors, first responders, veterans and military families; and sustain a spirit of service and preparedness by expanding opportunities for education, volunteerism and disaster readiness.

• Lockheed Martin was awarded a $10,439,315 contract to provide Phased Array Tracking to Intercept of Target (PATRIOT) Advanced Capability-3 guidance processor unit redesign Seeker Block V flight test support. All work will be performed in Grand Prairie, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2027. 

• Fort Worth-based Bell received a $114.7 million Navy contract modification for structural and electrical power upgrades to Marine Corps AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, including 15 A-kits, four mission kits and nine aircraft installations. About 38% of the work is in Fort Worth through June 2028.

Snippets:

• Southwest Christian School filed for a $21 million, 62,000-square-foot indoor athletic center at 6901 Altamesa Blvd. in southwest Fort Worth. It was a busy week at the permitting offices around town; check all the filings here to see what is happening in your area. 

• TCU unveiled an updated Horned Frog logo and university branding at a strategic-plan town hall. The so-called "roadkill frog" is out.

• Fort Worth-based Justin Boots is launching a Cody Johnson by Justin collection with the country star, the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year. No launch date or prices were announced.

Earnings reports:

• Fort Worth-based Bell's third-quarter revenue fell 9% to $933 million, mainly on lower military volume from the Army's MV-75 Cheyenne program. Bell's segment profit dropped 17% to $76 million, it delivered 29 commercial helicopters (down from 30), and its backlog stood at $7.6 billion. The corporation raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to $6.55 to $6.65 a share.  

• Arlington-based D.R. Horton earned $741.8 million, or $2.67 a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $905.3 million, or $3.04, a year earlier. Revenue slipped 3% to $9.4 billion as the homebuilder closed 22,915 homes. The quarterly dividend was raised 11% to 50 cents. For fiscal 2027, D.R. Horton expects $30 billion to $32 billion in revenue and $3 billion in stock buyback. Its lot developer, Forester Group, earned $59.2 million, or $1.15 a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter on revenue of $580.8 million, selling 5,004 lots. 

Today in history: 1920 = Commercial radio broadcasting is born when Pittsburgh’s KDKA aired election returns from atop a Westinghouse plant. Results arrived by telephone from the Pittsburgh Post newspaper, reaching listeners who owned the still-uncommon receiving sets.

Daily digit: 111,000+ = Number of families participating in Texas’ private school voucher program during its first year. 83% of first-year voucher recipients did not attend public schools during the 2024-25 school year, the most recent year for available data.

Significant stat: Founded in 1981 with a $47,000 gift, the North Texas Community Foundation has helped donors invest more than $550 million in grants. 

Announcements:

• Big 12 Conference: Commissioner Brett Yormark is leaving in January for an undisclosed opportunity.

• Fort Worth: Water Department adds Juan Loya as a Grants Specialist in the Regulatory Services Department. 

• Willow Park: Hires Laura Weber as Community Relations Director.

• Amon Carter Museum of American Art: Incoming Executive Director and CEO Robert Stein starts Monday, Nov. 9. His previous leadership roles include Chief Information Officer at the National Gallery of Art, alongside deputy and executive roles at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the American Alliance of Museums.

• KPMG: Hires Annalise Manoog as a Property Tax Associate.

• Forestar Group: Donald (Don) J. Tomnitz retired as Executive Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors. Anthony (Andy) W. Oxley, who serves as President and Chief Executive Officer, assumes the additional role of Executive Chairman.

• Capital One: Hires Chris Flores as Manager, Product Design. 

• Portland, OR: Selects former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald as Deputy City Administrator to lead the Public Safety Service Area.

• JPMorganChase: Hires Jeff Nickerson as Roanoke Branch Manager. 

• Goodwill Central Texas: Adds Russell Lowery-Hart to its Board.

• Rolfson Oil: Hires Sonia Raval as Program Manager.

• Alcon: Hires Olayemi Swindel as Senior Principal Medical Science Liaison with the Glaucoma portfolio. 

• Ulterra Drilling Technologies: Hires Traci Larrison as Senior Events and Marketing Director. 

• Webber: Names Nick Wolf President and CEO. 

• American Airlines: Promotes Sarah Hinkle-Morton to Senior Analyst, Global Marketing Channel Governance. 

• University of North Texas: Adds Dr. Lathera Addison as an Adjunct Faculty member. 

• Tarrant County College: Hires Craig Kimberlin as District Irrigation Coordinator.

• UNT Health Fort Worth: Names Michael Furtado a Senior Associate Dean/Professor.

• University of North Texas: Hires James Hill as Associate Athletics Director for Communications. 

• Sodexo: Names Ashley Hinojos Catering Director of Operations, Athletics. 

• FreshPoint: Hires JC Huriega as Director of Food Safety & Quality Assurance.

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