Jonas Woods’ Pacific Elm Properties has secured a $132.5 million recapitalization loan for its office-to-residential conversion project at Santander Tower, located at 1601 Elm Street in downtown Dallas. The financing was provided by CIM Group and will support the second phase of the Peridot Residences, which involves converting non-contiguous floors of the 50-story tower into apartments.
The second phase will add 105 apartments to the building, following last year’s completion of the first phase, which delivered 291 units. Upon completion, Santander Tower will feature both residential and commercial components, including approximately 858,000 square feet of office space, a two-story Mint House hotel, the private Tower Club, and ground-floor retail.
“About 350,000 square feet of office leases have been signed at the tower since the redevelopment launched. Those include New York-based law firm Wilson Elser, which downsized into 19,000 square feet on the 26th floor late last year. Santander Consumer USA, the auto lender and namesake tenant, occupies more than 200,000 square feet.”
Pacific Elm has faced recent financial challenges; it previously encountered foreclosure on another downtown residential property and lost its stake in Comerica Bank Tower at 1717 Main Street last year.
The conversion is part of a broader trend in downtown Dallas where landlords are repurposing office properties to meet rising demand for housing. Pacific Elm’s portfolio includes six Class A towers totaling 4.4 million square feet. The company also owns Bryan Tower at 2001 Bryan Street and plans another office-to-apartment conversion there.
Santander Tower was one of North Texas’ largest office buildings with a total area of about 1.4 million square feet. Its shift toward mixed-use development reflects changing work patterns and tenant preferences that are influencing new uses for major commercial properties in Dallas.
