Katy Building Up for Sale
By: Connie Gore

GlobeSt.com
Published August 10, 2004

DALLAS-After a 14-year hold, a local investor has hung a $3-million price tag on one of Dallas' oldest office properties, the Katy Building.

Built in 1912, the seven-story landmark at 701 Commerce St. spent its first 50 years as the headquarters building for the Katy Railroad Co. Today, it's a 57,600-sf renovated structure with a 77% occupancy, a 14-tenant roster, mostly attorneys with long-term commitments, and a solid foothold in the shadow of the Dallas County and federal courthouses, Greg McDonald, executive vice president of Dallas-based Weitzman Group, tells GlobeSt.com.

McDonald and Weitzman senior vice president Eddie Liebman cornered the assignment from well-known local investor, Cliff Booth, who has moved his office and hung a "for sale" sign on an asset steeped in history and a block from the West End Historic District yet boasting a 21st Century amenity with direct access to the light-rail system. Owner of Westmount Realty and Westmount Realty Capital, LLC, Booth, a caretaker of several historic Dallas buildings, has started a multi-million-dollar loft conversion of the Santa Fe Terminal at 1122 Jackson St.

McDonald expects the listing, though labeled as a class C building, will attract 10 to 15 offers. "The redeeming fact is that it's so well located," he says. The landmark building, renovated in 1985, is leased and managed by the John Bowles Co.