Shelbourne Buys Plaza of the Americas in Downtown Dallas

North Texas’ largest office sale of the year just happened in downtown Dallas.

Brooklyn, New York-based Shelbourne Global Solutions paid an undisclosed amount for the 1.2 million-square-foot Plaza of the Americas office complex at 600 North Pearl Street, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The sellers, M-M Properties and Invesco Real Estate, bought Plaza of the Americas in 2011 and have been trying to sell it since last year. That joint venture paid $100 million for the complex and spent an additional $26 million on renovations, which included an overhaul of the atrium in 2013, replacing its indoor ice-skating rink with a 1-acre garden area with eating and gathering spaces.

Newmark Group’s Chris Murphy, Robert Hill and Gary Carr brokered the sale to Shelbourne.

The landmark property comprises two 25-story office buildings and has a shopping center at the bottom of a 15-story atrium. There’s also an adjoining 400-room hotel, but that wasn’t included in the sale.

Shelbourne is taking a swing on an office sector that’s struggled since the pandemic-fueled remote work caused vacancy rates to soar across North Texas and much of the nation. Hiked interest rates and a tight lending environment have exacerbated office challenges more recently. As of last quarter, there was 70 million square feet of vacant office space in Dallas-Fort Worth, and downtown Dallas had the bulk of it, with 10.34 million square feet.

Built in 1980, Plaza of the Americas is 60 percent leased, well below the DFW average of roughly 25 percent. Its largest tenants include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Capital One, the outlet said.

The sale comes at a time when few office properties are changing hands in the area. The most recent downtown office sale was the 22-story St. Paul Place, which traded in April. Terms of that deal were not disclosed, but Pacific Elms Properties to help finance the acquisition.

—Quinn Donoghue