DALLAS — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
The new brokers for a landmark mixed-use complex in downtown Dallas hope to secure fresh retail tenants in an attempt to reenergize the once-lively space.
The Retail Connection is now looking for new retail, restaurant and fitness tenants at Plaza of the Americas, which encompasses about 1.2 million square feet at 600 N. Pearl St.
The Dallas-based commercial real estate firm is new to the project after being selected as the brokers for the retail portion earlier this year. This week, leaders at the brokerage provided more info about the building and what they envision for its future.
Plaza of the Americas has about 1 million square feet of office space but its atrium levels are built for restaurant, retail, fitness, entertainment and medical space — which is what the brokers are aiming to fill. The 13-story glass atrium features an indoor garden and boasts two levels of food and retail space.
Thad Beckner, senior vice president of The Retail Connection, said his firm is striving to return Plaza of the Americas to its former glory as an iconic site in downtown Dallas.
"We're just trying to get activity into the property and turn it into what it used to be, which was a vibrant, downtown property," Beckner said.
Currently, about 70,000 square feet of retail space is available for lease on the atrium's second level. The atrium also used to be home to an ice-skating rink, which shut down about 12 years ago.
Plaza of the Americas was a bustling complex when it opened more than 40 years ago, bringing hundreds of people to Dallas' urban core. The three-building complex was completed in 1980 and has undergone two major renovations since. It includes two 25-story office buildings as well as a separately owned 416-room Marriott hotel.
Retail Connection's efforts underscore a wider push to bring more foot traffic to downtown, especially after the pandemic changed workplace patterns. Many downtown officer tenants have moved or announced plans to move to Uptown.
"I want to turn the property into not just a lunchtime spot," Beckner said. "I want to turn it into a morning, noon and evening type of property."
He added he is looking to include more of a "dinner presence" at the Plaza. Currently, Corner Bakery, Salata, Broadway Pizza and a donut shop lease restaurant space. Additionally, Plaza Fine Jewelry, a longtime family-operated small business, has occupied the same spot in the center for more than 40 years.
Retail Connection's brokers also hope to secure a fitness concept or two. Beckner said downtown is in need of more gyms, with only one operating fitness center in the area. Upstairs, the Plaza has about 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space available for fitness concepts.
"Downtown is starved for fitness," he said. "Demand should get even higher and higher as more people move into downtown."
The downtown population has grown 71% in the past decade, according to Downtown Dallas Inc. More than 80,000 residents live in the main urban core or "city center," within a 2-mile radius of downtown.
The office space at the Plaza is about 62% leased, said Duane Henley, executive managing director of Newmark, which handles leasing for the office space. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is a major tenant. The federal agency has plans to bring an additional 500 workers to its space by the first quarter of 2025. It was unclear how many of its employees currently work in the building.
Capital One Financial Corp. used to occupy office space within the Plaza but the bank moved its operations to Legacy business park in Plano years ago, leaving behind more than 26,000-square-feet in office space.
Brooklyn-based Shelbourne Global Solutions purchased the office towers and atrium space of the Plaza last year, but not the Marriott. The firm has pitched amenity improvements to the space, including indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, a movie theater, a yoga studio and other personal-care services. M-M Properties and Invesco Real Estate formerly held the property.
Retail Connection noted it is "willing to get creative on deal terms."
"We’re willing to make deals that are tenant-friendly," Beckner said. "They don’t have to make money immediately."
