Geaux Tigers

Overhaul to turn Tandy Center towers into condos


By Sandra Baker

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

<!-- begin body-content -->

FORT WORTH - The owners of the Charles D. Tandy Center hope to spend about $110 million to turn the twin-tower office complex being vacated by RadioShack into 350 condominiums, the largest high-rise residential redevelopment project in downtown Fort Worth to date.

The project, whose developers are still shopping for financing, includes demolishing most of the structure between the towers that was built in the late '70s as a shopping mall and was most recently known as the Fort Worth Outlet Square. It will be replaced with villa condominiums with rooftop gardens, a fitness center, an indoor pool and parking for more than 700 cars.

Skywalks will connect it to the residential towers.

The 1.2 million-square-foot redevelopment will include about 350 residences, nearly 1,200 parking spaces and more than 78,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and shops.

The developers will also ask the city to rebuild Second Street between Throckmorton and Taylor streets.

The project, which has not yet been named, will "become a very interesting community," said David Porter, president of PNL Cos., which bought the property from RadioShack in December 2001.

PNL has hired Holliday Fenoglio Fowler in Dallas, a privately held commercial real estate intermediary, to find a residential developer or capital partners to join PNL in the project. Costs are more than first anticipated, Porter said.

The towers will be stripped to the concrete-and-steel structure and rebuilt, and terraces and balconies will be added. The cost to replace the windows alone will be about $10 million, he said.

The project's size makes "it big enough to attract attention," Porter said.

While financing hasn't been nailed down, developers said they are confident that it won't be a stumbling block.

"PNL will stay very involved," Porter said. "We do want to bring in as strong a development team as we can.

"Fort Worth is generating a lot of interest. That has not been lost in the investment community."

Jeffrey Stone, senior managing director of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler's Dallas office, said the group has already talked with some potential investors.

"Downtown Fort Worth is recognized as a viable downtown market," Stone said. "The investment community knows that."

When PNL bought the property, it said then that it had planned to turn the south tower into residential use. But because attempts to find corporate users for the north tower have not produced any tenants, the company decided to make the entire project residential.

An April 2003 study found that it was unlikely that Fort Worth would be able to attract enough office users to occupy the space being vacated by RadioShack, as well as Pier 1 Imports, which is moving from City Center office towers to its new headquarters along the Trinity River.

It would have taken a company with about 1,000 employees to fully lease the 320,000-square-foot north tower, Porter said.

City Center managers say they are negotiating with a handful of possible tenants for the 170,000 square feet of space that Pier 1 will leave. No deals have been signed, although it is anticipated that some companies in the Neil P. Anderson office building, which will be redeveloped for residential use, will move to City Center.

Putting even one of the Tandy Center towers back on the open market would have flooded downtown with surplus space and put a huge crimp in the relatively low vacancy rates that downtown Fort Worth has enjoyed for the past few years.

According to the latest figures from real estate company Grubb & Ellis, the downtown market is 88 percent leased. In comparison, downtown Dallas is only 70 percent leased.

Tarrant County has purchased RadioShack's Technology Center, built in 1992 just across Taylor Street from the Tandy Center.

Andrew Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., said the market should be able to absorb the units quickly. He cited a study from a couple of years ago that showed that there was an immediate need for about 5,000 residential units downtown, including for-sale units.

Although the study hasn't been updated, Taft said he is confident that the number of needed units is now higher.

Moreover, occupancy levels at the apartment communities around downtown remain at a tight 95 percent, a proportion that hasn't fluctuated much in the past several years.

Taft described PNL's move to all residential units as a "thoughtful reaction" to the market.

"The lifestyle appeal of living downtown keeps increasing," Taft said. "The demand is driving the market."

Porter agrees.

"What The Tower has shown us is the market is strong," he said.

The Tower's condos are 84 percent spoken for, eight months before tenants will be able to move in. A few months ago, based on the high number of sales, its developers decided to convert the portion that had been set aside for apartment rentals into for-sale condos.

RadioShack has leased the Tandy Center property through April, but Porter said it appears that the company could be out by February, when it begins its move to new headquarters along the Trinity River on downtown's north end.

Construction on the redevelopment will begin soon afterward, Porter said, but it may not be until mid-2006 when people begin moving in.

The project will begin with the demolition of the center portion of the buildings. The south tower, built in 1978, will still be the first redeveloped.

Curved glass structures that will house mechanical operations will be added to the top of both towers, as will additional space for condos. Those additions will make the north tower 19 stories and the south tower 20 stories.

On the low end, some condos will be 750 to 800 square feet and cost between $110,000 to $130,000. The larger units, at more than 4,000 square feet, will cost more than $1 million.

The new center portion will include three levels of parking, retail and amenities space and 16 villa condos. An additional 10 villa condos will be added to the portion just north of the south tower, as will 18 condos and space for residents to use.

The parking lot north of the north tower will remain. The project is to receive about $9 million from the downtown tax increment financing district in exchange for 500 public parking spaces in the north garage.

An existing skywalk from the property to the Renaissance Worthington Hotel will remain and could serve as a link to provide condo residents with concierge service, room service and maid service from the hotel, Porter said.

The villas will have courtyards and a series of trellised walkways.

The north tower, built in 1976, will have 134 units and six penthouses. The lobby and retail space will cover about 5,729 square feet. It will have 12,030 square feet for below-street-level storefronts.

The north parking garage has 443 spaces. The new garage will have 755 parking spaces, including 412 underground.

The south tower will comprise 144 units, six penthouses and more than 21,000 square feet of shops and stores.

"It's hard to know what the density, or number of people living there, will be," Porter said. "It can become a very interesting community."

tamtagon

Great news! I hope it goes through. How many vacant highrises are in downtown Fort Worth?

I cant stand statements like this:

John T Roberts

I think there are only four that are 100% vacant. The Tandy Center is currently occupied, so it doesn't count. The Transport Life (soon to be renamed 714 Main) is currently being converted to apartments, so work is ongoing. The T&P Railway Terminal houses the last stop on the TRE and its lobby is open and functioning, but the office building above is vacant and awaiting conversion into apartments. Its companion warehouse is totally vacant and plans for redevelopment are supposed to be announced soon. The final building is the Landmark Tower, a former tallest building in the city. A growing oil company purchased the building in January and has been removing the asbestos since then. No announcement has actually been made on what they plan to do with the property.

__________________
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com - Architecture in Downtown Fort Worth
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum - The Fort Worth Forum
http://www.dallasarchitecture.info - Architecture in Downtown Dallas

gc

Excellent.

__________________
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”

texman

i agree and think this is great news, but seriously, when is the office market gonna pick back up in DT dallas and Ft. Worth? I don't want the downtowns to become just tons of high rise condos. anyone see my point?

__________________
"And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."-"Farewell to Penn Station," New York Times Editorial, October 30, 1963

dallastophoenix

not really.

as long as these empty buildings are filled - even if they're turned into different uses - it's good for both downtowns. just think if most of the empty buildings in dtd were turned into residential... as the business sector expanded and desired more office space down there, more towers would built to accomodate them. it's simply a cycle...

rantanamo

I see texman's point. You really want true mixed use, not just a dense residential area. Otherwise you'd have 100,000 people living in downtown Dallas that drive to Irving or Richardson to work. Reverse traffic nightmare. It would be nice and pedestrian, but possible quiet in the day time.

CARTMAN

I really don't think the overall residential aspect of both Dtw's will matter against the office, retail. I think before they start building new towers in DTW Dallas and Ft. Worth investors want those vacant buildings full. I believe after the absorption of the buildings we will start seeing the towers rise on those hideous parking lots. Its just makes good sense.

rantanamo

I think the developers know what's really needed in the markets. They know we have a low class A vacancy. Its just more 'in' to build shorter and more specialized. And especially on cheaper land.

tamtagon

Residential population in and around the central business district is the single most influential factor on the retail, entertainment and business environments. Look it, people move to the country, companies move to the country.

How long has the residential space boom been going on in uptown? Two years, maybe three? Service industries will follow the population with less than a year lag; business-to-business industries also follow the population, but generally lag behind around a year behind the service industries. Also, the type of resident also determines the type of Service and B2B industry to expect. When people buy a residence, service industries are certain to have customers; with a stable population and established amenities, business owners get as close to the homes of their customers and/or employees as possible.

Both Dallas and Fort Worth will see a surge in downtown activities - individually among retail, entertainment and business segments - which corresponding directly to the activity of owner/occupier residents.

Tnekster

Center of change

Developers behind renovation of Tandy Center are seeking incentives for projects that may begin in late September

By SANDRA BAKER

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER


FORT WORTH - The developers who plan to renovate the former Charles D. Tandy Center into luxury condominiums are negotiating with city staff for money to help with demolition of a portion of the property that would reopen Second Street.

David Porter, president of PNL Cos. in Dallas, said he is also seeking money to defray costs of removing a concrete overhang on Throckmorton Street between the former Fort Worth Outlet Mall and the Renaissance Worthington hotel.

Demolition costs for removing the overhang and razing the mall are estimated at $3.5 million, and work could begin by late September, Porter said. In 2001, PNL acquired the complex, which formerly housed RadioShack Corp.'s headquarters.

Porter is also asking for additional incentives to help with development costs. Under the proposal before the city, the developers would be reimbursed over a 15-year period from tax revenue the project generates, now estimated to be $68 million for the seven taxing districts, he said.

All those details are being worked out, but the reimbursement figure will likely be capped, Porter said.

Porter approached the city seeking about $6.8 million but said Thursday that the figure is being negotiated.

Overall development costs could reach $120 million, he said.

Tom Higgins, the city's economic development director, declined this week to elaborate on the negotiations, saying the mayor and City Council members have not yet been briefed on the proposal.

"We feel optimistic that we'll be able to present it to the City Council in the next three to four weeks," Higgins said.

The project is already slated to receive about $9 million from the downtown tax-increment finance district for a 10-year parking lease agreement, of which the city's portion could be about $2.5 million. That agreement was reached in May 2003.

Porter said he is seeking additional help from the city because it will benefit from the redevelopment, which involves 1.2 million square feet of vacant space.

The soon-to-be-renamed project will have as many as 350 residences, 1,200 parking spaces and 75,000 square feet for restaurants and shops.

Extending Second Street through the project will improve traffic flow downtown and reopen a part of downtown that holds a rarely used public park, he said.

Removing the overhang between the mall and hotel would improve pedestrian traffic by creating an attractive atmosphere, according to the developers. A separate pedestrian walkway between the two properties will not be removed.

Porter said no decision has been made regarding the north tower and whether it will remain as office space or be converted to residential use.

It will be the last phase of the project to be completed, he said.

vman

This was a really cool project... that's not gonna happen.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/0...ndy-center.html


The Dallas developer that owns City Place -- the high-profile redevelopment of the Tandy Center twin towers in downtown Fort Worth -- has put the property on the block.

A year ago, PNL Cos. put the vacant, 19-story One City Place tower at Third and Taylor streets up for sale. PNL's original plan was to make that tower a condo building when the anchor tenant, RadioShack, moved out several years ago.

But now, Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate broker representing PNL, said it might be easier to sell the 1.2 million-square-foot project in its entirety, not in pieces. The time to sell is right, the broker said, because credit is loosening in commercial markets and real estate investment funds are ready to start spending again.

Fort Worthology

Not surprising, given that every update and revision to the plan that PNL put out was less and less impressive as time went on. This *was* a cool project, but the more recent plans were progressively more lame. There was clearly trouble afoot.

__________________
Fort Worthology | Hello Panther
"I'll probably be some kind of scientist,
building inventions in my space lab in space."

KesslerDweller

Hmmmm . . . I would never do a condo development in a retrofitted office building. No balconies, no dice.

MarkL2023

What about the Metropolitan/1200 Main? As I understand, it was considered a successful project.

tamtagon

^I think a few wrap around balconies would be much nicer. I agree the absence of a balcony in a Dallas residential high-rise is awful. Dallas has great balcony weather, all year long.

dtdresident

I own a unit at the Metropolitan and have a balcony and we just love it. These are definitley needed in condo living as it is important for one to be able to step into the outdoors easily...

Fort Worthology

Of all the issues with this, I think "lack of balconies" wasn't that far up the list.

(Full disclosure - never lived in a building with balconies, never missed it.)

__________________
Fort Worthology | Hello Panther
"I'll probably be some kind of scientist,
building inventions in my space lab in space."

vman

I do think balconies can sometimes detract from the aesthetics of a condo/apartment bldg. I definitely perfer inset balconies like the Metropolitan. And FWIW, I can't stand open balconies on a highrise hotel (unless it's on a beach).

aygriffith

Do any of the new ones have balconies on the hotel portions? The insurance per room is noticeably higher with balconies. Thats why you see less new hotels built with them and more hotels taking them away and pushing the room out, ala Westin Galleria.

vman

The convention hotel in FW has huge balconies on it that look god awful imo. I"m glad there are none on the dallas hotel. The balconies on the Dallas Ritz Carlton are well done and don't distract from the hotel.

downtownguy25

Prettty sure, much like the w in dallas, the units with balconies are the condo units.

Fort Worthology

The units with balconies at the Omni are indeed the condos, not the hotel rooms.

(And for what it's worth, I think the Omni looks great with the balconies - certainly not "god awful.")

__________________
Fort Worthology | Hello Panther
"I'll probably be some kind of scientist,
building inventions in my space lab in space."

LH_Newbie

Last summer, I walked through a couple Metropolitian units. I really liked the building. If I were in the market for a downtown condo, this building would certainly made my short list.

Brian