The Blubber

Burnett Plaza, the tallest building in Fort Worth, has been sold at foreclosure auction for $12.3 million.

The previous owner, an affiliate of Opal Holdings based in New York, failed to repay a $13 million loan from Pinnacle, leading to foreclosure proceedings. In 2021, the Opal affiliate acquired the 1 million-square-foot Burnett Plaza at 801 Cherry Street for $137.5 million.

Compounding Opal's challenges, contractors have lodged 10 mechanic’s liens totaling over $1.6 million against the firm in the past year, citing unpaid renovation work at the downtown site.

The building's taxable value, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District, stands at $104.5 million. Among its tenants are General Motors Financial, engineering and design firm Kimley-Horn, and architecture firm Huckabee.

Burnett Plaza's significant depreciation in value and foreclosure sale reflect the distressed state of Dallas-Fort Worth's office market, which has been impacted by remote-work trends since the pandemic. A vacancy rate of 22 percent was recorded in DFW last quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, due to historically low demand. However, downtown Fort Worth's office vacancy rate is 11.5 percent, significantly lower than that of other Texas Triangle cities' CBDs.

Opal filed a lawsuit against Pinnacle on April 2, alleging that the lender forced the building into default.

Burnett Plaza is not the only North Texas asset that Pinnacle has reclaimed from Opal. Earlier this week, the bank acquired the four-building Centerpoint office complex at 600 Six Flags Drive in Arlington for $30 million, equivalent to $66 per square foot, through auction.

Opal reportedly defaulted on a $40 million loan associated with the 450,000-square-foot property, which the Tarrant Appraisal District values at $43 million.