Downtown News

Iconic downtown Dallas building will transform offices into residences

Glossy facade of the Santander Tower.

Courtesy rendering

An iconic downtown high-rise is planning to transform some of its office space into apartments: Santander Tower, the building at 1601 Elm St. that was previously known as Thanksgiving Tower, is going to be remodeled into apartments.

According to a release, building owner Woods Capital has hired Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP), a family-owned construction management and contracting company, to do a multifamily adaptive reuse of the 50-story tower.

AP will partner with Woods Capital and Dallas-based developer Mintwood Real Estate to convert multiple floors in the 1.4 million-square-foot downtown building into 228 multifamily units, along with amenity spaces.

The office building underwent a $40 million renovation in 2017, and its tenant list is anchored by Santander Consumer USA. It has a helipad, and a two-story hotel on the top two floors called The Guild, with rates that range from $139 to $198 a night.

The conversion will begin in summer 2022 with renovations on the first floor as well as floors 18-25 and 37-39.

Dallas-based architect WDG designed the multifamily units and indoor amenities.
Swoon provided interior design services.
TBG Partners designed the exterior amenities.

The project is set for completion in fall 2023.

Thanksgiving Tower is the eighth-tallest building in Dallas although when it was built in 1982, it was the second tallest building. It was renamed Santander after its main tenant in 2020. It's a shiny, glassy monolith, across from Thanks-Giving Square, behind The Eye, and a block away from Belse, the acclaimed vegan restaurant.

AP's Gulf States regional president Will Pender says in a statement that they're exhilarated to be involved in the project. Bonus points for "exhilarated," much better than the usual "thrilled."

"Adaptive reuse is a thrilling trend in today's real estate industry," Pender says. "This is an exciting development for the Dallas Central Business District, which is ripe for office-to-residential conversions."

The project will feature one- and two-bedroom unit floorplans.

Project amenities include a swimming pool, dog park, fitness room, common gathering spaces, and a meeting space featuring a kitchen for entertaining.

Mintwood Real Estate CEO Katy Slade notes that the building will come with some nice views.

"Converting high-rise office floors to residences in the Dallas CBD provides much-needed housing – and the views are stellar," Slade says.

Woods Capital previously invested more than $40 million in Santander Tower to update all building systems, refurbish common areas, add an executive fitness center, and renovate the lobby and plaza. The mixed-use tower features office space, multiple on-site dining options including a private dining club and a boutique hotel.

"We are excited to see this project come to life and bring more housing options to the urban core. By converting vacant office space into luxury, multifamily housing, we can create a more vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood and meet the growing demand caused by migration to the area,” says Woods Capital founder, president, and CEO Jonas Woods.

downtown

Prep to Protest

Texas homeowners have one month to protest and lower their property taxes

Jessie Street home front Austin tour of remodeled homes

Photo courtesy of Austin NARI Tour of Remodeled Homes

Here's how Texans can correct their property taxes when they feel their home appraisal is too high.

Texans who are unhappy with their home appraisal this tax season have a chance to do something about it if they get the process going in the next month. The deadline for most people to protest their property valuation — thus lowering their property tax — in Dallas County is May 15.

If you haven't done it before, don't worry: There are steps to follow online and companies that do it for you at no cost unless you save money.

Why protest?
Texans pay the 7th highest property taxes in the country, according to personal finance website WalletHub. If your county has overappraised your home, you are paying more than you need to in property taxes.

Protests are especially important and easy for people who closed on their homes in the past year, because the value of the property upon sale is accepted as the true value of the property. This assumes that if the property were worth more, it would have sold for more. The more recently the home sold, the more likely it is that homeowners haven't meaningfully altered the property since the purchase.

Submitting a protest is free, and there is almost no risk in doing so. The Appraisal Review Board is prohibited from raising the property value in a hearing. Homeowners may decide it's not worth their time if their appraisal barely changes and they don't save a significant amount of money.

When to submit
Most homeowners whose home has increased in value according to the county should have received a Notice of Appraisal in the mail by now. It tells them how much the county believes their home is worth this year. To check online, homeowners can search for their property at dallascad.org.

The deadline to submit a protest is May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed — whichever comes later. However, the notice may have been lost or delivered to the wrong place, so it is important to check before May 15 just in case. Notices are also sent later for property owners whose primary residence is somewhere else.

There are lots of ways homeowners can try to prove their home value has not increased, or even that it has decreased due to damage on the property. Whether the evidence is photos of damage or "comps" around the neighborhood — comparing the home's value to others of a similar quality in the same area — homeowners submitting their claim themselves should be prepared to meet with an appraiser or even a review board.

Set it and forget it
Homeowners who don't want to deal with the paperwork, phone call, or hearing can hire service to protest on their behalf. For them, savings are essentially passive income; the service uses data from past years and the surrounding neighborhood to argue the client's case. It is easy to find a service that works on a contingency fee, so the cost is only a portion of the successful savings. Ownwell is a popular choice, but it's not the only one.

Finally, homeowners should also make sure they're not leaving money on the table by applying for a homestead exemption. This is available to people who own the homes they live in, as opposed to people who own homes and rent them out to others. It subtracts $140,000 from the total valuation of the home before applying the tax rate.

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