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Smith Pushes Occupancy of Complex to 73%

FORT WORTH-The new owner of the Oil & Gas Building/Commerce Building complex is building on improvements, but goes after traditional office tenants, too.

By John McCloud | Updated on February 25, 2008

FORT WORTH-The new owner of the Oil & Gas Building/Commerce Building office complex in downtown Fort Worth has completed about 45,000 sf of leases since acquiring the 450,000-sf property in September. Leasing manager Darrah Smith of the locally based Darrah Smith Commercial reports the two most recent deals, a 13,440-sf lease with Transcom Enhanced Services and 9,000-sf lease with Holland Acquisitions, bring the property at 307-309 W. 7th St. to 73% occupancy.

The complex was 68% occupied when it was purchased by RLYB FW Properties, a partnership from New York City, which bought the historic complex from Fort Worth Plaza LP for $26.7 million, or about $60 a sf. The property consists of the 19-story Oil and Gas Building completed in 1954 and the 16-story Commerce Building, which dates to 1930. The two buildings are linked at lobby level and share a common entrance.

Smith says the previous owner, which acquired the property in 1999 with almost full occupancy, allowed the tenancy to slip because it planned to convert the complex into a data communications center. It spent millions of dollars to upgrade the power system and install fiber-optic wiring. But after the dot-com bust of 2001, it put further improvements on hold. About 20% of the space is leased to data storage companies.

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