Sundance Square has purchased the Petroleum Building and the accompanying 12-story garage in downtown Fort Worth from XTO Energy for an undisclosed price.
“The availability of the Petroleum Building presented a great opportunity to bring the landmark building into our portfolio,” said Johnny Campbell, CEO of Sundance Square. “The Petroleum Building will continue to be occupied by XTO Energy at least through mid-2018.
The 14-story building, built in 1927, is situated on a full city block at W. Sixth Street between Houston & Throckmorton Streets.
The building is approximately 117,000 square feet, was restored in 2004 by XTO Energy and has been well maintained, according to a Sundance Square news release. Designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick for businessman Richard Dulaney, the building features Art Deco elements and has gone through several alterations over its 90-year history.
Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp., which owns XTO Energy, in June 2017 told employees at its Fort Worth operations that it would move 1,200 employees to the Houston area campus in 2018 and 400 more in 2020. The energy giant also announced its intention to sell six of the seven buildings it owns, including some meticulously restored vintage office buildings, such as the Petroleum Building.
The building has art deco elements and was remodeled in 1969 when some ornamentation was removed. When XTO bought the building in 2004, the company restored it to its original appearance.
An asking price was not announced but the building is valued at more than $7 million by the Tarrant Appraisal District.
With the addition of the Petroleum Building, Sundance Square now has more than four million square feet of office, retail, and residential leasing in 44 buildings.
JLL Executive Vice President Ryan Matthews represented XTO Energy Inc. in the transaction and led the team’s marketing efforts.
“We’re very proud of the outcome,” said Matthews. “XTO hoped to secure a buyer who understood the level importance the Petroleum Building has for downtown Fort Worth. Sundance Square obviously fits this profile. We know that this historic asset is in great hands.”
With the closing the Petroleum Building and executive garage, JLL has completed the disposition of four of the seven XTO office properties totaling 281,204 square feet of office space in Fort Worth including:
• The Binyon-O’Keefe Building located at 210 East Seventh Street
• The former Swift & Co. Building in the Fort Worth Stockyards located at 600 East Exchange, was sold as an office site.
• The Montgomery Ward/Tindall Storage building located at 801 Grove St. was purchased by The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, “The T,” for its future headquarters.
The remaining assets are expected to go to market over the coming months, with Matthews leading marketing efforts.
A parking garage adjacent to the building is also included in the purchase. Connected by an enclosed skywalk, the garage has 534 parking spaces and additional retail space.
The Petroleum parking garage will eventually be incorporated into Sundance Square’s parking program that offers free parking to guests visiting Sundance Square after 5 p.m. on weekdays.