Fort Worth’s Tallest Building Changes Hands

Pinnacle Bank Texas has sold Burnett Plaza, a 1.1 million-square-foot Class A office tower in Fort Worth, Texas, Dallas Business Journal reported.

The seller granted a leasehold deed to an entity affiliated with Trafalgar Homes, and while the sale price was not disclosed, the buyer took a $67.5 million acquisition loan from Pinnacle Bank Texas, according to CommercialEdge.

Burnett Plaza is the city’s tallest tower, and the sale followed a foreclosure closed earlier this year, where Pinnacle Bank bought back the 40-story building for $12.3 million. New York-based Opal Holdings was the seller at the time, which defaulted on its $13 million loan, the same source shows.

A historic building

Burnett Plaza is at 801 Cherry St. in the city’s central business district. Originally completed in 1983 and renovated in 2021, the high-rise features 12 passenger elevators, 22,291-square-foot floorplates, 6,700 square feet of retail space and 2,040 parking spots.

Amenities include a conference center with 150 seats, board room, fitness center, on-site cafe and convenience store, tenant lounge and a training room that can host up to 100 people. The property also offers services such as an on-site salon, a property management team, IT concierge services and cyber security providers.

Burnett Plaza’s tenant roster comprises Covenant Group, Kimley-Horn, United States Department of Justice, CDM Smith and Enterhost, among others.

The office tower has access to Fort Worth Central Station and Interstate 30. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is 22 miles away and downtown Dallas is 32 miles east of the property.

Moderate performance in the Metroplex

The office sales volume in the Metroplex reached $812 million as of August, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. The amount placed Dallas-Fort Worth seventh among the best-performing U.S. metros. Office assets changed hands at an average sale price of $125 per square foot—a significantly lower price than the $173 national figure.

In September, another distressed office property traded in the metro. A joint venture between Enverra Real Estate Partners and Gulf Coast Western purchased Parkway Office Center North and South, a two-building campus in Dallas. Principal Financial, the asset’s former lender, sold its interest in the loan to the duo, foreclosing on the previous borrower.