Fort Worth’s historic Kress Building, at 604 Main St. in downtown Fort Worth has been acquired by Karns Commercial Real Estate of Dallas. No price was released for the transaction.
Karnes Commercial is headed up by Mike Karns, owner and CEO of the Firebird Restaurant Group, which operates four brands, including El Fenix, Snuffer’s Restaurant and Bar, Meso Maya and Taqueria La Ventana as well as a restaurant supply company, Sunrise Mexican Foods. Officials say the company plans to open a restaurant on the first floor, where a Fox and Hound restaurant and pub was previously, but did not say what brand of restaurant is planned for the site.
The four-story, 48,000-square-foot Kress Building was built in 1936 in the art deco style. It was one of 250 Kress buildings constructed around the country, but only 50 remain today, according to the building website. The Fort Worth Kress Building’s three upper floors were converted to lofts in 2006 and updated in 2008. There are 24 lofts in the building. The first-floor space is about 22,600 square feet.