Walk through downtown Fort Worth and you can't miss it. The glass. The height. 801 Cherry Street Fort Worth—otherwise known as the Burnett Plaza—is a massive, 40-story beast of a building that basically defines the skyline. But lately, people aren't just talking about the views from the top floor. They’re talking about the drama.
It’s the tallest building in the city. It stands 567 feet tall. If you’re standing in Sundance Square and look up, that's the one. Yet, for all its prestige, this slab of granite and glass has become a case study in how weird the commercial real estate market has gotten since the world flipped upside down a few years ago.
You’ve probably seen the headlines. Foreclosures. Massive debt. A building that once seemed like the safest bet in Texas suddenly sitting on the auction block. It’s wild.
What’s actually going on at 801 Cherry Street?
Let's get into the weeds. 801 Cherry Street Fort Worth isn't just an office building; it's over one million square feet of workspace. For a long time, it was the crown jewel. But in early 2024, the news broke that the building was facing a $13 million mechanic's lien and a whole mess of legal trouble. Pinnacle Tower LLC, the owner at the time, got hit with a foreclosure notice.
Imagine owning the tallest building in town and losing it on the courthouse steps.
That’s exactly what happened in May 2024. The building was auctioned off. The buyer? It was actually the lender, an affiliate of Pinnacle Bank, who took it back with a bid of around $12.3 million. If that sounds like a low price for a massive skyscraper, it’s because it is. But that number doesn't reflect the total value; it’s more about the debt and the legal maneuvers behind the scenes.
The whole situation is a bit of a mess, honestly. You have contractors claiming they weren't paid for renovations. You have a shifting market where people just don't want to sit in cubicles as much as they used to. It's a perfect storm.
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The Architecture and the Vibe
When you walk into the lobby, it doesn't feel like a building in crisis. It feels... expensive.
The design came from Sikes Jennings Kelly & Brewer. They went with this polished red granite that looks different depending on how the Texas sun hits it. Completed in 1983, it was originally the First National Bank of Fort Worth. Back then, it was a symbol of the oil boom and the city's exploding wealth.
Inside, it’s got everything you’d expect from a Class A space. Huge windows. High-speed elevators that make your ears pop. A massive parking garage that’s actually connected, which—if you’ve ever tried to park in downtown Fort Worth on a Tuesday morning—is a lifesaver.
Why this building matters to the local economy
Fort Worth isn't Dallas. People here take the skyline personally.
When 801 Cherry Street Fort Worth struggles, it ripples through the local economy. We’re talking about a building that houses major players. GM Financial has been a massive tenant there. When a building this size changes hands or faces legal battles, it affects property tax revenue for the city. It affects the surrounding small businesses—the coffee shops and lunch spots that rely on those thousands of office workers coming downstairs at noon.
Think about the sheer scale.
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- 1,024,427 square feet of space.
- 40 floors of vertical real estate.
- Two-acre urban park (Burnett Park) right next door.
The park is actually one of the coolest parts. It was designed by Isamu Noguchi. It gives the tower this weirdly peaceful foreground in the middle of a concrete jungle. If the building ever went fully vacant, that park would feel like a ghost town.
The "Office Is Dead" Myth
People keep saying nobody goes to the office anymore. That’s not entirely true in Tarrant County. While San Francisco or New York might be struggling with 50% vacancy, Fort Worth has stayed a bit more resilient. But "resilient" doesn't mean "immune."
The trouble at 801 Cherry Street Fort Worth is a symptom of a larger "flight to quality." Companies are downsizing their footprint but upgrading their space. They want the flashy amenities. They want the outdoor terraces. They want the tech-integrated conference rooms.
Burnett Plaza has been playing catch-up. They spent millions on renovations—new fitness centers, updated common areas, better lighting. Those are the very renovations that led to some of the mechanic's liens, which is the ultimate irony. You try to fix the building to keep it competitive, and the cost of fixing it almost sinks you.
What's next for the tower?
The bank owning the building is likely a temporary situation. Banks don't want to be landlords; they want their money back.
We’re probably going to see a period of stabilization. The new owners have to clear the titles, settle the disputes with the contractors, and prove to the current tenants that the elevators will keep running and the lights will stay on.
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Is it going to be converted to apartments? Probably not.
Converting a million-square-foot office tower into residential is a nightmare. The plumbing alone is enough to make an engineer cry. You have a massive floor plate, which means the middle of the building would have no windows. Nobody wants an apartment with no sunlight. It’ll stay an office building, but it might become a "mixed-use" hub with more retail or public-facing spaces on the lower levels.
Moving forward in downtown Fort Worth
If you’re a business owner or a real estate investor looking at 801 Cherry Street Fort Worth, the lesson is pretty clear: the "old way" of managing these giants is over. You can't just sit back and collect rent checks.
The building is currently a buyer's market for tenants. If you’re looking for high-end space with a prestigious address, you have more leverage now than you did five years ago.
Steps for navigating the current Fort Worth office market:
- Check the title. If you're looking to lease, make sure the management is stable. The recent auction at 801 Cherry has actually cleared some of the uncertainty, but you want to see a clear plan for the next 24 months.
- Audit the amenities. Don't just look at the square footage. Check the HVAC specs and the fiber optic capabilities. Older towers like this one have been retrofitted, but some floors are better than others.
- Leverage the location. The West Side of downtown is becoming a major hub again. Being right next to the 121 and I-30 interchange is a massive logistical win for employees coming from Arlington or Aledo.
- Watch the liens. If you’re a contractor working in the building, be diligent about your contracts and payment schedules. The history here suggests that paperwork matters more than handshakes.
The story of 801 Cherry Street isn't over. It’s just in a messy middle chapter. It’s still the tallest point in the city, and in Texas, that usually means something. It survived the 80s oil crash, the 2008 bubble, and a global pandemic. It's still standing.
Keep an eye on the city council meetings and the Tarrant Appraisal District filings over the next year. That’s where the real future of this building will be written, in the boring fine print of tax protests and zoning adjustments. For now, it remains a giant of glass and granite, waiting for its next act.