Range Resources Plans Exit from Fort Worth Building

The owner of a nearly half-century-old office building in downtown Fort Worth is framing the pending departure of a longtime anchor tenant as an opening, not a setback.

Range Resources Corporation plans to vacate Two City Place at 100 Throckmorton Street when its lease expires in 2027, relocating to the 40-story 777 Main tower less than a mile away. The Dallas Business Journal reported that the Fort Worth-based energy company has occupied the building since 2007 and leases about 112,000 square feet — roughly 35 percent of the 320,000-square-foot tower — according to Citadel Partners, which handles leasing at the property.

Jon Ruff, president and COO of Dallas-based owner Spire Realty Group, confirmed the move and said Range’s decision wasn’t driven by issues at the building. Instead, Ruff said, Spire is already positioning Two City Place to capitalize on what will become one of the largest contiguous blocks of available office space in downtown Fort Worth.

“We expect that the space is going to lease,” Ruff said. “And we expect that it’s going to lease at a rate that is probably better than we would have gotten if we would have renewed Range Resources.”

Range will take four floors at the 777 Main new trophy tower, which is rising in the central business district. A company spokesman said the new space will be similar in size to its current space, but declined to elaborate on the rationale for the move.

Two City Place — formerly part of the Tandy Towers complex — is one of two 19-story buildings tied to an annex with retail and a parking garage. The broader City Place complex totals about 1.2 million square feet and once served as RadioShack’s headquarters. Two City Place was last renovated in 2008, while its sister tower was updated in 2014, according to the outlet.

Spire plans to use the transition to freshen the building, including a “major overhaul” of common areas with a focus on the lobby, Ruff said. New ground-floor retail is also on the way, including a coffee shop and Italian restaurant Buonissimo.

Downtown Fort Worth’s combined Class A and B vacancy rate sits at about 11 percent, and large blocks of space are scarce, according to Citadel. Two City Place is currently just under 90 percent leased and will be able to offer roughly 120,000 contiguous square feet once Range leaves.

— Eric Weilbacher