For the last decade, the First National Bank tower has been one of the darkest spots downtown. The vacant midcentury skyscraper was a dead zone in Dallas’ redeveloping central business district.
A $460 million redo took care of that, and now the 52-story Elm Street high-rise is becoming one of downtown’s brightest blocks.
Built as an office tower, the landmark building has been reimagined as a mixed-use project called The National with a posh Thompson Hotel, luxury apartments, office space and retail.
Redevelopment of the building by Dallas' real estate firm Todd Interests, Merriman Anderson Architects and general contractor Andres Construction is the biggest such project ever undertaken in Dallas.
“We’ve just opened the hotel and half of our rental units,” said developer Shawn Todd. "We are at the point where everybody feels the pressure to finish.
“We are finishing right now floors 44 to 51,” Todd said. “And we’ll be totally done with the construction by December.”
Tenants have already started moving into the first of 324 apartments, with rents starting at more than $2,100 a month.
“We’re almost 20% preleased,” Todd said. “And 70% of the hotel is open.”
The apartments range from a 660-square-foot one-bedroom unit to a more than 3,400-square-foot penthouse with two bedrooms, a study and three baths.
Every inch of the interior of The National has been furnished, decorated, adorned with art and curated unlike any other building downtown.
“It’s all about ambience and the plushness and luxury we have put in the space,” Todd said. “We’ve spent almost $3 million on the art.”
The 219-room Thompson Hotel occupies the lower levels of the tower, and the apartments are on floors 22 through 48. Special penthouse rental units have been set aside at the top of the building.
The apartments and hotel have separate lobby areas and entries on the ground floor.
The standout at The National is the ninth-level amenity floor with its Nine restaurant space, fitness center, tenant lounge areas and a sprawling outdoor deck with a swimming pool, cabanas, grill areas, seating and a dog park.
One floor up, you’ll find the Catbird bar and grill, with indoor and outdoor seating and gathering areas.
Caroline Todd of Todd Interiors and interior designer Cindy Zelazny worked on the finishes and designs for the huge project.
“Merriman’s team has done a tremendous job as well, and solely designed the hotel rooms,” Shawn Todd said. “It was a great collaboration effort by all.”
The mammoth downtown development stayed on schedule in the face of pandemic-related delays that cut off access or delayed building supplies and furnishings.
“Not one aspect of this very complicated development has been left alone by this pandemic,” Todd said. “We are humbled and grateful for where we are at present, with the finish line in sight.”
Constructed in 1965 as Dallas' tallest skyscraper, the building was vacant and had passed through multiple owners before Todd Interests partnered with investor Moriah Real Estate to acquire the skyscraper in 2019.
The tower had been gutted and the work to rebuild it had already started when the new owners took over.
The dark gray glass and white marble high-rise was originally the home of the First National Bank and was designed by noted Dallas architects George Dahl and Thomas Stanley.
The tower in the heart of downtown closed in 2010 when office occupancy in the building plunged.
To revitalize the property, the developers relied on $100 million in historic tax credits and $50 million in Dallas tax increment financing to help fund the project.
“In terms of dollars and square footage, it is the biggest project we’ve ever done,” said Andres Construction CEO Wade Andres. “At the peak, there were 550 craftsmen working in the building and probably 1,000 more in support jobs.”
The tower was the largest vacant building in downtown for years. Preservationists worried that the high-rise would be razed.
“I think about when this opened in ’65 and what a statement it was,” Todd said. “We are quickly moving towards the completion of the upper floors of project by year-end.
“It’s been one crazy, exciting and sometimes fatiguing ride.”
