Work had kicked off as soon as the final purchase papers for 1505 Elm Place had been inked by Sam Ware's Lazarus Property Co. The first phase, which will enable the firm to market the condos, will wrap up in 90 days, says Steve Everbach, Lazarus' new COO. He estimates the spec project will cost $20 million to $30 million before all is said and done.
Lazarus has bought the property from the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, which had undertaken a building remediation, including asbestos removal, to get the structure in shell condition and marketable. Everbach tells GlobeSt.com that purchase talks have been ongoing for a few months although the structure has been on the market for perhaps close to a year.
Part of the deal calls for the chamber to occupy 30,000 sf at a neighboring Lazarus holding, Elm Place. The 1.1-million sf structure is located at 1401 Elm St. Cushman and Wakefield of Texas Inc. has handled lease negotiations on Lazarus' behalf. Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Dallas-Ft. Worth team of Thomas E. Clarke, senior vice president, Whit Moses, vice president, both of the investment group, and Mark Nelson, associate in the office group, had represented the Greater Dallas Chamber in the sales transaction.
The purchase includes an abutting five-story building and 250-space parking garage. Everbach says there are two retail operations in the abutting building, but none will be incorporated into the overhauled office structure. It's strictly a Dallas first, for-sale condos of which 70 to 80 will be fitted into the design. Merriman Associates Architects Inc. of Dallas, is the architect of responsibility. The units will range from 800 sf to a 6,400-sf penthouse. A 9,000-sf unit is planned for the 15th floor.
The project's first phase calls for exterior improvements, lobby makeover, valet entrance on the Akard Street side, fitness center and conversion of the old Dallas Federal Savings vault into a residents' wine cellar. The units will be marketed for $150 to $180 per sf, targeting renters who are paying $1,500 to $2,000 a month for housing. A sales agent pact has been inked with Carolyn Shamis Realtors.
Despite Dallasites love for the new, Everbach says there is definitely a market for the redevelopment, which will retain many of the architectural accoutrements that had made the 1957-constructed building so outstanding. In addition to Dallas Federal Savings, it had been home to Dresser Industries. "We're not building a new downtown, with an ultra-chic high-rise," he emphasizes to GlobeSt.com. "It's an urban feel." And, he says, a feel that will get a warm reception from the region's northeastern transplants and the estimated thousands of renters now in downtown buildings. Everbach, who relocated from the northeast in 1985, says the proof for such a project's success can be seen in redeveloped older properties in Deep Ellum, the made-over Kirby Building and Magnolia Hotel.
Everbach says Lazarus is "ahead of the curve" in its effort to redo instead of raze a key building. The purchase takes up a full city block in the CBD's core and is situated along the DART rail line.
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