Saying Goodbye to a Dallas Landmark
One of the premier Dallas office space locations has always been Elm Place, a 52-story high-rise that towered over Dallas’ central business district for over 40 years.
Low Occupancy Rates, Looming Foreclosure
However, this Dallas high-rise will close its doors soon due to low occupancy rates and a looming foreclosure. The pending foreclosure on part of the project has left the owners of Elm Place no other option than to close the doors and shut down the property.
Dallas office space will lose a prominent address due to the closure of Elm Place, although the owners have expressed deep regret that there is simply nothing else they can do. Most of the tenants in the building have either already left or are in the process of moving out.
The Unforgiving Dallas Commercial Real Estate Market
The rough and unforgiving Dallas commercial real estate market took its share of drastic hits over the last year and, unfortunately, Elm Place was one of the ones that just couldn’t survive. As a result, occupancy in the tower over the last year fell to a depressing 20 percent.
In other words, the rent being paid out by the few tenants was nowhere meeting the operating expenses of the building. This comes as quite a hit to the owners of Elm Place who, over the last few years, have dumped more than $12 million into the building to make up for a lack of rental income.
The Decline of the Commercial Real Estate Industry
As the doors close on Elm Street, this large, stately building will be a sad example of the suffering felt throughout the commercial real estate industry in Dallas over the last year or so. It will be the largest empty building in downtown Dallas.
Elm Place, which was originally built in 1964, stood as an icon in the downtown Dallas area, and it housed many of Dallas’ prominent companies, including First National Bank. The Bank of America was relocated last year, emptying out the lower nine floors of the building.
Elm Place may be an example of the older buildings in the central business district losing out to the newer buildings located throughout downtown, Uptown and the surrounding suburbs. Much of the empty Dallas office space buildings last year were older ones like Elm Place.
