A high-rise building north of downtown Dallas is joining the growing list of local office buildings in disrepair.
Uptown Tower, located at 4144 North Central Expressway, was built in 1982 and renovated in 1994.
The 253,561-square-foot, 12-story tower is more than 80 percent leased. Tenants in the building include Pfizer Wealth, Worth Ross Management, Hotel Brokers of America and Hightower Law Group.
Since 2013, the building, formerly known as Amberton Tower, has been owned by a Houston-based investor. The mortgage on more than $14 million of Tower's debt was transferred to special repayment in June, Morningstar Credit reported.
In August, the building's owner, Whitestone Uptown Tower LLC, was notified by its lender that its mortgage was in default. The loan deadline is October 1st.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the owners said they are “working to extend the maturity date and raise new financing for the Uptown Tower property.” ”
However, the investor said, “We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain an extension of the Uptown loan or new financing for the Uptown Tower property.”
With interest rates rising significantly and tightening lending standards over the past year, commercial property owners are facing unprecedented challenges in obtaining financing.
Property owners with past due mortgages are unable to obtain affordable refinancing.
As of last month, it was estimated that more than $3 billion in commercial real estate loans in Dallas-Fort Worth had defaulted. Three Dallas-area office buildings were recently threatened with foreclosure by lenders.
Richardson's office campus on Bush Turnpike was recently sold to a lender. And recently, another owner of multiple Dallas-area office buildings sought bankruptcy court protection.
