Fort Worth office building purchased, to be converted to condos
By Sandra Baker
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- Downtown Fort Worth is getting another condo project.
Amicus Interests, a local real estate development firm, has purchased the Neil P. Anderson building in downtown Fort Worth and will redevelop the 83-year-old structure into luxury condominiums, its new owner confirmed Wednesday.
"An opportunity like this does not present itself very often," said Matt Herring, a partner of Amicus Interests and a Fort Worth native. "Based upon the great success that The Tower and others have had, there's tremendous demand for downtown urban living and ownership."
Herring and his partner in the acquisition, Mark Latham, had discussed buying the building since January. The deal closed Wednesday. A sales price was not disclosed.
Andrew Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., said the project will be "an investment that strengthens the market."
Studies of the downtown area shows that the market in the next decade can support as many as 10,000 new residential units. Several projects are already underway to meet that goal.
Herring said the Neil P. Anderson building is one of the most visible, historically and architecturally significant landmarks remaining in downtown, and with its location next to Burnett Plaza, a park area, proved to be suitable for residential conversion.
"Its restoration and conversion to what will be residences of exceptional character, charm and quality will give the building new life and a new legacy as the city's most prestigious address," he said.
The building was sold by TCDFW 411 West Seventh St., a subsidiary of Trammell Crow real estate company, which bought the building in August 2000.
The 11-story, 101,000-square-foot building was completed in 1921. It housed the headquarters of the Neil P. Anderson Cotton Co. and several other tenants throughout the years.
The building was designed by architects Sanguinet and Staats, a firm that designed many of Fort Worth's most notable structures.
Dallas-based Corgan Associates has been hired as project architect by the new owners. Corgan most recently worked on the design of the former Bank One Building at Fifth and Throckmorton streets to The Tower, a 37-story building being converted into condominiums.
Herring said there are some other "very preliminary" plans for the building, but that focus groups will be held before developers determine the number and size of the units. It will likely range between 40 to 70 units, he said.
Other amenities will be added as well, including a pool and a garden. The bottom level will remain as retail space, he said.
The building, a Texas Historic Landmark since 1978, is about 50 percent leased. Many of those leases will be expiring in the next few months and the tenants will be moving out, Herring said.
Leases that extend into early next year will be honored, he said.
It could be several months before renovation work begins on the building, he said.
Herring has been involved in acquisitions of high-profile properties in Fort Worth lately.
The latest was as a partner with Trophy Investments in Dallas, which in January bought retail property at 6323 and 6333 Camp Bowie Blvd. The property is being redeveloped as the Village at Camp Bowie.
He also is a partner in groups that own the Ridglea Bank Building and the Green Oaks Inn.
Neil P Anderson building converted to condos
#1
Posted 23 June 2004 - 09:57 PM
#2
Posted 23 June 2004 - 10:21 PM
#3
Posted 23 June 2004 - 10:36 PM
#4 gdvanc
Posted 23 June 2004 - 11:30 PM
#5
Posted 24 June 2004 - 12:59 AM
#6
Posted 24 June 2004 - 09:43 AM
Now someone needs to turn the Commerce building into luxury condos, too.
#7
Posted 24 June 2004 - 12:34 PM
#8
Posted 24 June 2004 - 01:18 PM
Overall, this is good news and Fort Worth still continues to amaze and excite me.
#9
Posted 24 June 2004 - 01:20 PM
#10
Posted 24 June 2004 - 02:17 PM
By the way Jonny, this is a project whose announcement took me by surprise.
#11
Posted 25 June 2004 - 07:47 AM
Ah, I was just about to ask you about that.By the way Jonny, this is a project whose announcement took me by surprise.
#12 David Love
Posted 28 June 2004 - 02:49 PM
#13
Posted 28 June 2004 - 07:16 PM
#14 David Love
Posted 29 June 2004 - 08:52 AM
#15
Posted 29 June 2004 - 05:59 PM
Any idea what the story is with him or the company? I tried Googling them and found nothing.
#16
Posted 30 June 2004 - 03:36 PM
#17 gdvanc
Posted 30 June 2004 - 06:33 PM
I wonder if Amicus Interests is related to Amicus Partners. That Amicus was involved with Plano's Transit Village, The Travis at Knox, and Aventura Addison Circle, I believe. [Amicus Partners Ltd, (972) 361-5480, 15601 Dallas Pkwy, Addison, TX 75001]
Mark Latham:
Possibly the Mark Latham who is/was a principal with Predium, a (Dallas-based?) commercial real estate firm.
Probably not the Labour Party leader from Australia, nor the San Fran-based corporate governance warrior with the MIT Finance PhD, nor a guy I used to work with in software support in Dallas (although perhaps he's related).
Matt Herring:
Possibly the Matt Herring who was with the investment properties group at CB Richard Ellis and is/was the president of Dallas-based Wilcox Capital Partners (a subsidiary of Cawley-Wilcox Cos.). Wilcox Capital Partners bought the 182,000 sf Ridglea Bank Building in Fort Worth in 2003 and the Green Oaks Hotel in 2002. That Matt Herring, by the way, is a Fort Worth native. So he has to be cool.
#18
Posted 06 July 2004 - 11:35 AM
#19
Posted 08 August 2004 - 09:57 PM
John (or one of the other photographers) should swing by the building and see if you can take a photo of the photos to post here - I think quite a few people would enjoy them. There is also quite an extensive history of the building mounted up on the wall as well.
#20
Posted 09 August 2004 - 08:21 PM
I have known about the photographs in the lobby for about 20 years. When the building was restored, the owners put the photographs in the lobby. I appreciate your suggestion on taking pictures of the photographs, but that would be against the law in several ways. Now, if the building owners wished to donate copies of the photos to Architecture in Downtown Fort Worth, that would be a different story.
One of the reasons that you don't see many historic photos of the city here is that permission must be granted to post them and credit must be given to the company and photographer (if known).
#21 David Love
Posted 28 October 2004 - 10:14 AM
Okay, what exactly is a “boutique condominium?” Are they really small?
#22
Posted 28 October 2004 - 06:28 PM
David, it was finally nice to meet you last night.
#23
Posted 28 October 2004 - 08:18 PM
Many of them have very exclusive addresses.
An "exclusive address" huh? Does that mean the address excludes people?
Just kidding with you John - the use of the word "exclusive" to mean expensive or desirable has amused me for some time. Apparently the word "exclusive" implies that few people are able to gain admittance, therefore we are to conclude that the place in question is desirable. Ironically people are often attracted to those places that they are told are off limits or are unavailable.
#24 David Love
Posted 29 October 2004 - 02:00 PM
Nice meeting you too John....
#25
Posted 04 November 2004 - 12:33 PM
To be honest that’s the first time I’ve heard the word boutique used to describe a style of condominium, made me wonder if visitors would be moved to pick stuff up and look at the bottom for a price tag….
Nice meeting you too John....
I just got my invitation for the evening of the 10th at the Fort Worth Club. My wife and I are on El Campo now, but looking to move downtown. I will see what info I can get and post later. Can't be too exclusive, I just called and said I would like to go!
#26
Posted 10 November 2004 - 07:25 PM
Neil P at Burnett Park
I am not a big fan of that name, if that is what they are going to use....
#28
Posted 11 November 2004 - 12:37 AM
The sign for tonight's event at the FWC listed the condos as:
Neil P at Burnett Park
Sounds like a bar. Or an upscale clothing store. Either way, I know I don't like the name.
It sounds like the name of a perpetually inebriated but friendly hobo that one gives a helping hand to every so often.
"Gee, honey. You haven't worn this old sweater in a while - and look, it has a stain on it too. You know, it's the time of year when the weather is starting to get cool. Why don't I wrap it up along with a few old blankets that I was going to throw out and tomorrow at lunch you can give them to poor old Neil P.at Burnett Park."
#29 gdvanc
Posted 11 November 2004 - 12:47 AM
And, really, by now there shouldn't be anyone left who believes there is any creativity at all in a name that is formed by joining two other names with an 'at'. Sorry, I didn't think I'd have to point that out. It was considerably tired by the late eighties - well, ninety-three at the latest. Might as well have called it Uptown [at the West End].
#30
Posted 11 November 2004 - 01:01 AM
The sign for tonight's event at the FWC listed the condos as:
Neil P at Burnett Park
Sounds like a bar. Or an upscale clothing store. Either way, I know I don't like the name.
It sounds like the name of a perpetually inebriated but friendly hobo that one gives a helping hand to every so often.
"Gee, honey. You haven't worn this old sweater in a while - and look, it has a stain on it too. You know, it's the time of year when the weather is starting to get cool. Why don't I wrap it up along with a few old blankets that I was going to throw out and tomorrow at lunch you can give them to poor old Neil P.at Burnett Park."
Hah!
#31
Posted 11 November 2004 - 09:56 AM
They have floor plans and building plans ready, but they are subject to change. Last night you could view the interior plans and exterior plans. The architect and the Interior designer were present.
For a $10,000 check placed last night with the owners by any interested owner (refundable), you will be placed on a list to be able to select your specific condo in February. At that point you will enter into a purchase agreement and possible "move in" by late summer?
In February, they will have much of the lobby area completed as well as a model unit. The pricing per sf will avg $250 based upon the unit location and finish out. Parking will be available on a long term lease by the garage that surrounds the unit.
The units seem to range from 600 sf to over 2000 sf. and are named for famous Texas people, etc. i.e. "The Tandy", etc. They will be adding balconies on some of the units on the front left and front right corners.
There is or will be a bridge from the parking garage on the seventh floor into the building itself.
I was not able to get any information about monthly building fees. The ground floor will remain occupied by the reprographics company and the restaurant.
They are also going to build a pool area in the outer courtyard that faces the back of the building.
Looks pretty good, but we are not ready to make a commitment without more details. Maybe there are more details, but they just did not explain them very well.
They gave us a slick booklet that shows the interiors and exterior improvements. Looks very nice.
#32
Posted 11 November 2004 - 09:01 PM
The sign for tonight's event at the FWC listed the condos as:
Neil P at Burnett Park
I am not a big fan of that name, if that is what they are going to use....
I am excited about the new additions to the downtown area, but I am afraid we'll be saturated all too soon with the new condo developments? I hope it's not overkill!
--and Thurman, I'm not a fan of that name either.
#33
Posted 11 November 2004 - 09:20 PM
#34
Posted 14 November 2004 - 08:28 AM
#35
Posted 14 November 2004 - 01:54 PM
#36
Posted 14 November 2004 - 02:07 PM
Geeze Loouise,
Peeved Pup
#37
Posted 15 November 2004 - 12:21 AM
Anyway, I did attend the lil' Neil P. party last week and if you will, here are my unabated impressions:
First things first, I don't know why, but I really dislike how these announcement events are often held at the FWC.. It's such an oldschool place, to announce something as cool as the NPA becoming high-end residences seemed out of place *there* .. Although there was a pretty golden view of the building in its entirety out the 12th floor ballroom windows.. But I digress, wouldn't the lobby of the NPA itself be the place to do this? Or maybe the Cotton Showroom Penthouse (if the landing gear company has indeed been fully evicted?) .. Eh, I just don't like the FWC .. call me biased.
Onward.. I met Matt Herring the moment I walked into the ballroom.. He's a cool guy, though he reminded me somewhat of our own lil' local version of Richard Branson -- beard and all -- take that for what you will .. We chatted up a bit and he's exciting about the building's possibilities, which is good to see.. The wierd thing was, it seemed the people he was with (all wearing Amicus badges) almost outnumbered the guests! In that way, it felt almost like a Scientology meeting.
Open semi-bar, cheese trays and beef puffs were decent.. (ok, ok, two points for FWC.. but that's all!) .. Presentation begins.. A Canadian gentleman hosts the evening and after a few minutes of rather interesting building history (I did not know the NPA was built in Anderson's HONOR) he explains that for only $10,000 you can reserve your place in line when they start their waiting list in January or so. Ok, here's my problem with that. The Tower tried the same thing in the beginning but it proved unnecessary because even several weeks after they opened up the sales office, units were still available. Of course, the Tower has six times the number of units, but still.. There is no need to throw down $10k even if it's just an "in-line refundable deposit" this far in advance.. (and if anyone remembers the "buy your unfinished space now!" stunt they tried to pull with Landmark Tower in 1998, you'll know that sometimes it's good to wait to see a finished product ) ..
They handed out a most impressive piece of printed material.. This is no Kinko's job.. pretty professional 28 page full-color spiral-bound book on ALL the individual floorplans as well as the whole floor plans 1 through 10 (penthouse level left out, even though they say it will be one huge unit.. would be awesome -- would also be like $1.5 million I'm guessing), but all the jargon (Boutique Condominium, Inside: Your Sanctuary, etc) did come off a *little* pretentious.. But hey, sometimes good projects warrant that kind of attitude. We'll see..
You know, it is fun to go to these little announcement parties (I always try to attend as many as I hear about) because there is such excitement and energy in the air by the people doing these projects.. (and there's free snacks) .. but at this one, with all the constant "we will be better than the Tower" talk circulating, this one kinda left me with a wierd aftertaste.. Don't get me wrong.. this project will be AWESOME .. and it's one of my favorite buildings down here.. but rival the Tower? Show me the hot tub and we'll talk..
I give the announcement party a C+ but the concept (if they stick to it) an A. Can't wait. I did a little non-biased write up on ol' downtownfortworth.com about it with some pics (by permission of coz) but I don't dive in-depth like I did just now..
Cheers!
lobs
#38
Posted 15 November 2004 - 05:43 PM
#39
Posted 15 November 2004 - 07:21 PM
The Tower tried the same thing in the beginning but it proved unnecessary because even several weeks after they opened up the sales office, units were still available.
I really don't think it proved unnecessary for The Tower to charge a reservation fee. If a person waited "even several weeks" after they opened the sales office they would be lucky to get the floorplan they wanted much less be on a higher or more desirable floor. The pre-sales started on a Friday. I had the first appointment on Saturday and I got the last of the floorplan that I wanted. Had I waited a few more days I likely would not have the one I wanted. As I see it, if you want a good place in line so you can have more choices, you gotta plop down the money.
#40
Posted 15 November 2004 - 07:28 PM
YES! I hope more developers have this "better than the Tower" attitude-and act on it. Competition and demand could lead us to even bigger and better condo towers, and that's a win-win situation for downtown.with all the constant "we will be better than the Tower" talk circulating, this one kinda left me with a wierd aftertaste..
#41
Posted 15 November 2004 - 07:46 PM
YES! I hope more developers have this "better than the Tower" attitude-and act on it. Competition and demand could lead us to even bigger and better condo towers, and that's a win-win situation for downtown.
Weeeelll, although fresh competition makes all the projects strive to be something better, striving to become "more luxurious and pretentious than the Tower" wouldn't necessarily make for a better residential building. I think we should just be happy that the NPA will be spared by turning into apartments in general, as opposed to having this whole "we have Corinthian Leather yes we do! We have platinum doorknobs, how bout you?!"
I completely understand what they're trying to do and what their demographic is (that elusive youthful Fort Worth urbanite with $400,000 to throw down, apparently) but, really, you don't have to start comparing yourself to a 37 story tower in order to get attention... The NPA is a beautiful and classic building on its own -- they don't have to spend so much energy trying to steal the Tower's spotlight.. there's plenty of attention left for them all
Do you think when Cravens finally puts his stethoscopes down and gets the Flatiron open, he'll have to start making comparisons to the Tower in order to get recognition ? Great buildings should generate greatness on their own.. (and downtown FW has plenty more of 'em!)
LOb
#42
Posted 16 November 2004 - 02:49 AM
#43
Posted 16 November 2004 - 09:12 AM
Personally, I'd take a condo facing the greenspace of Burnett Park over a condo in the Tower facing asphalt rooftops any day.
Eh, I dunno, call me a Manhattanite but there is something quite majestic about a 30th floor view of the great city of Fort Worth... It really is a stunning sight.. And if I have to face west I'd at least like to see the sunset as opposed to that dopey briefcase guy sillouhette out my window .. (And at $250/foot it turns out the price comparison of an NPA unit vs. a 30th floor place in the Tower is about the same).. I'll take the higher view.. --- from which you can see the greenspaces of Heritage Park, Trinity Park, Forest Park, Rockwood Park, Saunders Park, Riverside Park, Gateway Park
But I wasn't trying to indicate any rivalry between park views vs. city views.. The can both be equally as great in this town, it just comes down to personal taste.. My point was, NPA shouldn't have to try so hard with the super-fancy amenities to be an appealling property.
#44 David Love
Posted 17 November 2004 - 11:08 AM
I have a really cool view but when it comes to checking out who’s running around in Sundance Square I’ll have to break out the telescope or a slightly magnified camera obscura.
I'm guessing NPA has to justify their $250.00 per square foot price somehow; I’m just curious what the Tandy units will start at.
#45
Posted 17 November 2004 - 01:20 PM
I’m kind of torn between high rise views and low rise people watching. To be honest I would have preferred a larger unit in the Tower closer to where everything happens. When I signed at the Tower, think I had the first available appointment, I didn’t have the option of lower levels so I opted for the view in exchange for additional space I wasn’t sure I’d need.
We were #13 on the list in the very beginning when they had the lil' tent set up outside the trailer.. back then we were signed on to buy a west-facing 24th floor "C" unit (I think.. or was it "A1"? .. the smallest 2 bed/2bth, whichever that is) but after thinking about it, it was a little too much at the time.. When they cracked open the bottom half of the building, we went back and were able to get ourselves an 8th floor spot facing east -- and although I've always wanted to live on a high floor since I was a kid -- having the Blackstone out my window is a good compromise ... So in that regard, I'm hoping we have the best of both worlds..
And, Dave, if you're just too high up and need to get your fix of peoplewatching, you're welcome to hang out on our balcony .. perhaps we can do a trade when they set the Jul 4 fireworks off..
What floor will you be on anyway?
LObs
#46 David Love
Posted 17 November 2004 - 04:14 PM
#47
Posted 17 November 2004 - 10:55 PM
Oops, perhaps I should have specified that by "better than The Tower" I meant bigger (i.e. number of floors, number of units) and more competitive (maybe lower priced units even...). I don't really care about the luxury factor of whatever gets built downtown, as long as there are tall buildings and a lot of people.Weeeelll, although fresh competition makes all the projects strive to be something better, striving to become "more luxurious and pretentious than the Tower" wouldn't necessarily make for a better residential building. I think we should just be happy that the NPA will be spared by turning into apartments in general, as opposed to having this whole "we have Corinthian Leather yes we do! We have platinum doorknobs, how bout you?!"
#48
Posted 18 November 2004 - 09:43 AM
Oops, perhaps I should have specified that by "better than The Tower" I meant bigger (i.e. number of floors, number of units) and more competitive (maybe lower priced units even...).
yes, indeed.. I love highrises and I would love it if there were more of them down here.. but (barring the proposed ruins ) it seems the only way we're going to get more highrise residential projects on that scale is if we refurbish existing tall buildings .. Transport Life, T&P, Tandy Center seem to be all we have on the plate on that level, none of which are taller than the Tower... Now, as far as number of units, perhaps if the T&P warehouse were to get goin', that place could realistically hold 500+ units... And that bldg would probably be our only hope of a project that was actually "reasonably priced".. Once all the developers come back to earth and realize that Fort Worth isn't full of millionaires willing to relocate downtown and pay $300/ft, we'll hopefully start to see some projects that are approachable by your average downtown worker
#49 David Love
Posted 18 November 2004 - 02:05 PM
I read somewhere several years back that lofts in Houston had hit the $800.00 per square foot mark, think that may have been before Enron, since I can only find the $200.00 to $275.00 average range now. Not sure if that’s how downtowns run in general, $100 - $200 range then a boom or two with some market corrections due to financial, environmental, governmental related disasters, then they seem to slowly creep back up. Similar to Manhattan’s prewar, postwar prices which were consistently near the $1000.00 per square foot range, then dropped well below the $600 mark and are now nearing their prewar prices.
But from a quick scan around the country any downtown area eventually hits some rather pricy levels.
These are all price per square foot of lofts / condo units sold:
Manhattan: $600 - $1000
San Diego: $463 average of all units sold
Milwaukee: $225 – $275 with $350 being the newest high
Denver: $500-ish
Toronto: $400 - $500 “Canadian dollars”
Birmingham: up to $400
South Beach: $400 and up, way up.
So, what does downtown Fort Worth have that these other places don't?
Or, what do we not have that they do? Okay, we do have a water line but no beach; don't have a ski slope unless you count Belknap overpass that one day a year when it spits some snow; we don’t have San Diego’s 300, 72 degree, 38% humidity, sunny days a year, but we do have a lot of sunny days, until recently anyway… and we don’t have a Central Park but I think our crime rate may offset that one a bit.
#50
Posted 18 November 2004 - 04:33 PM
In fact, there are investors snooping around looking for any new product coming out of the ground that will hold promise of quick appreciation. Struhs has a project (near Pecan Place) on the drawing board that will put him under the $300 k mark if it goes as planned. Look for that announcement in the near future if he can make his land deal work. Again, the comparison is dirt by the square foot, not by the acre! At $25/foot, that's a million and some change for ONE acre of land!
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