NewQuest Properties planned a DFW project, but dropped the property when the city leaders weren’t helpful, says firm partner Dean Lane. City cooperation can bring big bucks, though. (Make money, not war.)

Dean, second from left, found Sherman's city leaders welcoming with tax incentives. That project (Sherman Town Center at US Hwy 75 and Loy Lake Road) now provides about one-quarter of the city’s tax base. At the third annual ICSC Texas Retail Forecast in Dallas last week, Dean's with The Weitzman Group managing director Bob Young, Howard Hughes Corp development SVP Mark Bulmash, The Retail Connection Connected Development Services prez David Wilson, and Neal Richards Group COO Nick Summerville.

Nick says the retail space in the medical side of commercial real estate is growing. As the developer of the Forest Park Medical Centers, NRG realized how many visitors these medical campuses attracted and started snapping up land around the medical centers to become part of a bigger mixed-use community. (That's primo florist/greeting card retail.) Hanging out with us during the panel: The Woodmont Co associate Jordan Gronholz, Bianco Properties SVP Daniel Wolk, and The Woodmont Co brokerage services prez Gwen MacKenzie, who joined the firm last summer.

Henry S Miller SVP Daniel Harris and commercial/retail prez Michael Dee. Daniel says there’s tremendous capital available for retail, with the Texas economic forecast positive in all sectors. Michael also tells us that HSM has added two new retail division brokers as the division expands.