Fortis Property Group has completed a $15 million renovation of the Dallas Arts Tower, an office building located at 2200 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas. The 55-story tower, which spans nearly 1.3 million square feet, is known for its distinctive six-story keyhole-shaped opening near the top.
The renovations include a redesigned lobby, updated amenities, and the addition of a 2,000-square-foot public art gallery that showcases work by artists from North Texas. The new gallery opened on Thursday and is intended to strengthen the connection between the tower and the surrounding Dallas Arts District. This area is home to cultural institutions such as the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center.
Fortis acquired the property in 2017 when it was called Chase Tower. After JPMorgan Chase left, Fortis renamed it Dallas Arts Tower to highlight its location within Dallas’ cultural corridor.
To curate and manage the art gallery, Fortis partnered with Business Council for the Arts, a nonprofit organization. The gallery occupies space formerly used by a Chase bank branch near the building’s entrance and will feature three or four rotating exhibitions each year. Permanent works by local artists Carmen Menza, Simon Waranch, and Du Chau are also included.
Terrence Storey, chief investment officer and COO at Fortis, explained that introducing art into the building aimed to foster creativity within a corporate setting. “The tenants have the leverage,” Storey said. “They have to attract their employees back to the office after the pandemic.”
Alongside these artistic enhancements, Fortis modernized other aspects of the lobby with new flooring—replacing green marble from the late 1980s with white stone—new lighting fixtures, furniture updates, and an all-day café designed to create a brighter atmosphere.
Currently, occupancy at Dallas Arts Tower remains in the high-70 percent range as nearly one-quarter of its space is vacant. However, law firm Vartabedian Hester & Haynes plans to expand its presence significantly by taking over all of floor 50.
Stream Realty Partners oversees leasing activities for Dallas Arts Tower.
