Solidarity

Association of Art Museum Directors rallies around Nasher in ongoing dispute with Museum Tower

The Association of Art Museum Directors recently issued a statement “expressing concern” over the “impasse” between the Nasher Sculpture Center and Museum Tower. The AAMD comprises directors from more than 220 art museums in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Nasher contends that sunlight from the tower disrupts the museum’s carefully controlled environment, thereby jeopardizing the safety of its collections. The two entities have been unable to agree on a solution in 18 months. A portion of the statement reads:

An institution’s collections — whether located inside the museum or installed on an exterior site — are essential to the fulfillment of a museum’s civic and educational mission. The Association of Art Museum Directors considers the preservation and care of collections to be a paramount responsibility, and believes that museums have an obligation to conserve and protect the heritage they hold in trust for the public.

In establishing the Nasher Sculpture Center, Raymond Nasher gave the citizens of Texas an unparalleled museum in the heart of the Dallas Arts District and committed to making his extraordinary collection accessible to all. Designed by famed architect Renzo Piano, the Nasher is an invaluable educational, cultural and economic resource for the people of Dallas and visitors from around the world. ...

We understand that throughout this process, the Nasher has negotiated in good faith with the developers of Museum Tower and has provided valid suggestions to ameliorate the situation. We hope that for the benefit of the Dallas community and the great works of art held in trust for their benefit by the Nasher that all parties will work together for an acceptable solution.

In November 2012, Museum Tower rejected the Nasher’s proposed louver solution as unattractive, unpleasant and unacceptable to homebuyers. In January of this year, Omni developer Jack Matthews made a bid to buy the maligned residential project.

“The man is soft-spoken but thoughtful, practical but visionary, and he would surely do a better job of finding a solution with the Nasher than Museum Tower’s current owners,” said CultureMap columnist Eric Celeste.

Just recently, in advance of the current exhibition, “Ken Price: A Retrospective,” the Nasher installed mesh panels on the windows and glass roof to protect the artist’s delicate ceramic works. The museum also installed a mesh solution last year, for the Elliot Hundley show.

Nasher spokesperson Jill Magnuson stresses that these mesh panels are a temporary solution — and one that dampens the experience for Nasher patrons.

“Light is to the Nasher as sound is to the Meyerson,” Magnuson says via email. “Darker galleries in the Nasher would be like muffled sound in our great concert hall.

“I want to make very clear that these temporary mesh panels come nowhere close to eliminating the blinding light effects in our galleries. Patterned light is still visible in the galleries, impeding visitor experiences and compromising our core business as an educational and cultural resource.

“Additionally, there is no remedy that can be made at the Nasher that addresses the problems Museum Tower has created for our museum — inside and out — or throughout the Arts District.”

The Nasher contends that light from Museum Tower threatens to damage the works in the garden and inside the galleries.

Photo ©Timothy Hursley

The Nasher contends that light from Museum Tower threatens to damage the works in the garden and inside the galleries.

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Downtown News

Historic West End Dallas mixed-use complex gets familiar new owner

Courtesy

Market Ross Place

A historic building in Dallas' historic West End has a familiar new owner: Five Smooth Stones, a real estate company that specializes in renovation, just acquired Market Ross Place, a mixed-used combination of three buildings located at 1701 N. Market St.

Five Smooth Stones is led by Owen Hannay, Dallas native and West End enthusiast who first began investing in the neighborhood in 2000, and is now making a return to the historic area to breathe in new life.

“We have had a lot of success in the West End over the past 25 years but, like many other districts, it tends to be cyclical, so we find ourselves with a lot of opportunity to improve the West End — again," Hannay says in a statement.

Market Ross Place consists of three buildings connected by a five-story atrium, comprising four restaurants and office space totaling approximately 142,000 square feet. It was built in 1905 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hannay also bought three retail buildings across from Market Ross, a parcel that includes the Museum of Illusions; the former Gators restaurant; and a building containing Mas Tacos and Cannon Bakery. He also bought the West End Parking Garage, which includes 35,000 square feet of retail and more than 650 parking spaces on six levels.

These acquisitions closed in March 2026.

Hannay, who also owns Dallas ad agency Slingshot LLC, first began investing in the West End when he acquired the Awalt Building at 208 N. Market St. in 2000. He went on to buy other West End properties such as a three-building portfolio at Elm and North Record streets, giving him one of the largest stakes in the neighborhood, with ownership of nearly one quarter of the 1 million square feet of office space in the area.

Over the years, Five Smooth Stones has purchased and renovated almost 1,000,000 square feet of historic office and retail space in The West End.

One of their most high-profile purchases was the Landmark Center, the six-story building at 1801 N. Lamar St. that was formerly a regional center for the FBI and also served as the first office HQ for CultureMap Dallas when the site launched in 2012. Five Smooth Stones bought it in 2004, renovated it, sold to Argus Realty Investors LP in 2006 — then bought it back again in 2023.

The Landmark Center is one of many properties in the West End that has undergone multiple ownership changes, bouncing from local companies like Five Smooth Stones to institutional companies — often with less than ideal results.

“When we sold our holdings in the West End in 2015, office occupancy in the district was probably over 90 percent," Hannay says. "We intend to get there again by proving that businesses want high-quality, well priced, centrally located historic space that exists in a genuine neighborhood that provides a human scale to live in, work in, and play in."

To that end, Five Smooth Stones has signed several new lease agreements in the Landmark Center, as well as facilitating the comeback of Ellen's Restaurant into its old space at Market Ross.

The new office tenants at Landmark include:

The Law Offices of Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP, a leading law firm, leasing almost 16,000 sq ft
HighLevel Inc., a marketing technology company with 15,700 sq ft on the fifth and sixth floors
Benchmark Group Architects, with 7,500 sq ft on the first floor
The Houston Room, an event venue occupying 6,000 sq ft on the fourth floor

… along with several smaller tenants including Corgan Architects Model Studio, Wildcat Investments, Cravens Brothers, JF Depetris, Jr., CPA and Collabridge Solutions, Inc.

The new leases bring The Landmark Center to more than 50 percent occupancy, with additional build- to-suit leasing opportunities available ranging from 2,000 to 30,000 sq ft.

"I believe that the leases we have already signed are indicative of demand,” Hannay says.

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