Omni Hotels Owner Buys Dallas Arts District Office Tower

An office tower in Dallas’ Arts District has a new, local owner.

An affiliate of TRT Holdings purchased St. Paul Place, a 22-story office building at 750 North Saint Paul Street, from Pacific Elm Properties, according to Dallas County deed records. The deal closed Dec. 2. Pricing was not disclosed, the Dallas Morning News reported.

TRT Holdings is a Dallas-based investment firm founded by billionaire Robert Rowling and his father, Reese Rowling. The company is best known as the owner of Omni Hotels & Resorts, but it also has a long history of investing in office, residential and mixed-use properties in Texas and beyond.

Built in 1983, the green-glass tower spans nearly 275,000 square feet and sits in the heart of the Arts District, a pocket of downtown that has generally fared better than older office submarkets. The Dallas Central Appraisal District valued the property at just over $47 million for tax purposes this year.

Tenants at St. Paul Place include real estate information giant Costar Group, law firm Mayer and a mix of professional service businesses. More than 23,500 square feet are being marketed for sublease, according to a current listing, reflecting the ongoing reshuffling of space needs across downtown.

The property also comes with some recent baggage. St. Paul Place underwent months of renovation following a flood in April, according to the publication, work that likely factored into both the timing and underwriting of the sale.

Pacific Elm bought the building in 2023 from Dallas-based Quadrant Investment Properties, financing the acquisition with a $66.7 million loan from MetLife Commercial Mortgage. Pacific Elm has been an active downtown investor, with stakes in properties such as 2100 Ross, Bryan Tower and Santander Tower. How the St. Paul Place exit pencils out for the firm remains unclear without a disclosed sales price.

Quadrant acquired the tower in 2016 and poured millions into a major overhaul, including a redesigned ground-floor lobby and new outdoor patio spaces aimed at making the building more competitive.

The latest deal lands amid a modest but notable run of office trades in Dallas’ urban core this year. While volumes remain well below pre-pandemic norms, buyers are stepping in. The largest office sale of 2025 so far was Crescent Real Estate’s acquisition of the Texas Capital Center at 2000 McKinney Avenue, a deal backed by Fort Worth billionaire John Goff. Like St. Paul Place, that sale came without a disclosed price.

— Eric Weilbacher