A Dallas skyscraper redo has turned an empty building into two distinct new offerings — a plush residential address and high-end offices.
The former Energy Plaza tower — rebranded as The Sinclair — is opening after more than a year of reconstruction. It’s a project of Todd Interests.
After buying the 49-story office tower in 2022, the Dallas developer expects to welcome the first tenants of the downtown high-rise next month.
“We are ready for occupancy,” said Todd Interests president and managing partner Philip Todd. “We’ve launched our website and soon will be moving people in.”
Unlike other downtown skyscraper redevelopments, Todd Interests’ Sinclair high-rise at Bryan and Ervay streets totally separates the office and residential environments.
The developers converted the upper floors of the 1.2 million-square-foot office tower into luxury apartments and kept the middle of the building as first-class office space. The two uses have separate entrances and lobbies with very different feels.
The residential lobby has the character of a five-star hotel while the office lobby next door is on par with the newest Uptown office projects.
“We spent close to $1,000 a square foot on the office and residential lobbies because we want people, when they make this their home or office, to feel like they are in a 2024 building,” Todd said.
Opened in 1983, the gray stone tower originally housed regional offices for Arco Oil & Gas. In later years, the building had tenants including utility firm Oncor and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The office tower — designed by I.M. Pei & Partners — was largely vacant when Todd Interests purchased the skyscraper in partnership with Moriah Real Estate and global investor Zurich Alternative Asset Management.
The more than $300 million redevelopment was designed by Dallas architect HKS. Brasfield & Gorrie was the general contractor. Bank OZK and Slate Asset Management financed the project.
Todd Interiors did the interior designs.
The revamped tower includes 293 apartments and 450,000 square feet of office space.
Apartments in the building will start near $2,500 a month for the smallest unit and almost $14,000 for the largest rentals.
The granite-paved plaza in front of the office tower has been reimagined with landscaping, fountain and outdoor dining areas for a ground-floor restaurant. From the entry court, there are views of the chapel at Thanks-Giving Square, historic U.S. Post Office and landmark towers including the Republic National Bank building.
“This setting is one of the finest in the city,” said Todd Interests’ founder Shawn Todd. “We didn’t spare any expense in the modernization.
“We pulled a lot of Old World influence with a modern adaptation,” he said. “Residents are paying a lot for high-rise living and they should be getting this quality.”
The huge fountain in the plaza was copied from a historic London hotel.
The developers removed stone walls on the lower building floors facing the street and replaced them with clear glass panels.
“We kept the existing 30-foot lobby height from the Pei design,” Philip Todd said. “Everything in here was stripped back to the studs and built back new.”
A second-floor level in the office section of the building has a spacious lounge area overlooking the lobby and extensive meeting and training spaces.
“That space is really important to law firms and investment firms,” Todd said. “Some tenants may be taking a little bit smaller square footage but have access to this space for coworking or use for events.
“We polled a lot of office users and tenant representatives to get the right mix that we thought was appealing,” he said. “We took a lot of what we learned at our Thompson Hotel project to create this amenity space that is hotel quality.”
The sixth floor of the tower is a residential amenity level with a luxurious tenant lounge, a library, private dining room, demonstration kitchen and a large coworking space.
“We know a lot of tenants like to work from home, and we set this up where people can be down here on their laptops during the day,” Todd said.
There’s also a full gym with steam room, sauna and private changing rooms and a golf simulator.
The outdoor…
Read More: Downtown Dallas office tower ready for reopening after $300 million makeover