Historic Kirby Building Hits Market in Downtown Dallas

A historic building in downtown Dallas is up for grabs.

Berkadia Real Estate Advisors has been hired to sell the Kirby, a 17-story, 200,000-square-foot apartment building at 1509 Main Street, owned by a New York investment group since 2016, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Built in 1913 by St. Louis beer tycoon Adolphus Busch, the Kirby is a designated Dallas historic landmark. The bygone Sanger-Harris department store occupied the ground floor until 1965.

The building changed hands numerous times throughout the 20th century and was primarily used as an office building. The Kirby was converted to apartments in 1999 and has remained popular among downtown renters ever since.

The building has 157 units, with floor plans ranging from 500-square-foot studios to 2,500-square-foot, two-bedroom penthouses, according to its website. Rents start at roughly $1,400 and range up to about $5,000.

Amenities include a rooftop pool and resident lounge, fitness center, coffee bar and outdoor kitchen.

“Current ownership has invested over $5 million to renovate the Kirby’s building systems, amenity spaces and unit interiors from 2018 to 2023,” a Berkadia spokesperson told the outlet. “The Kirby’s large, loft-style unit layouts, coupled with the completed amenity upgrades, attract residents to leasing at the property.”

Other historic properties in downtown Dallas have hit the market in recent months. The Purse, a 65,000-square-foot structure that was built in 1905, went up for sale in April. A few blocks away, a 145-year-old building that housed the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant hit the market around the same time.

—Quinn Donoghue