Cawley Details 187,500-SF Spec Office

FORT WORTH-With its fate long sealed, the 284-key Green Oaks Hotel’s demolition will begin in 30 to 45 days. The landmark hotel’s 12-acre site will be cleared to make way for a three-story, 187,500-sf, LEED-certified spec office project.

Vertical work begins in January on Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks, with completion between November and first quarter 2009, Bill Cawley, chairman and CEO for Dallas-based GVA Cawley, tells GlobeSt.com. Touted as the hotel where Elvis slept, Cawley affiliate Wilcox Capital Partners acquired the 12-acre asset in August 2002 for $5.5 million, pumping in capital for a renovation to keep income flowing while the site’s future could be worked out.

“I just love Fort Worth. I just think there are a lot of barriers to entry,” Cawley says. Although he owns two office properties in the city, he’s familiar with development roadblocks when it comes to change, particularly spec office. His bid for a Downtown office building met with resistance due in part to its height, with the project going on the backburner and his focus shifting to the hotel site at Green Oaks Boulevard and Interstate 30. The redevelopment hasn’t been a secret, but Cawley’s been on the quiet side about the strategy underwriting the new project.