Dallas has increasingly been putting apartments into historic downtown buildings. In the past week, Fort Worth made its own one-two punch in the same direction.
First, Dallas-based Bluelofts Inc. acquired the historic Oil & Gas building on West 7th Street in downtown Fort Worth (above), in partnership with Wolfe Investments. “We wanted to bring more housing for young professionals and also bring more life into that last pocket because this building is one of the last buildings that hasn’t been converted,” Bluelofts Co-Founder Ike Bams told the Dallas Business Journal. “Most of the historic properties in downtown Fort Worth have been converted into hotels or condos.” The 16-story, 166,000-square-foot tower is adjacent to the 19-story Star-Telegram building. Bluelofts plans to convert it to 180 luxury apartments with ground-floor retail.
Then just today, news came that the 16-story former Oncor building—also on West 7th Street—has been acquired by Chicago’s 3L Real Estate. According to the Dallas Morning News, the 300,000-square foot 1950s building will also be converted into apartments. “We’re big supporters of what the city of Fort Worth has been doing downtown, and are looking forward to contributing by opening more doors for people to live here within their budgets,” 3L’s Joseph Slezak told the DMN.
Both buildings are within walking distance of Fort Worth’s Sundance Square.
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