The owners of Sundance Square are changing up their leasing playbook by bringing in outside help.
Fort Worth–based LanCarte Commercial Real Estate took over leasing duties for at least four prominent office buildings within the 35-block district in downtown Fort Worth, owned by billionaire Ed Bass and his wife Sasha Bass, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
Sundance Square Management had previously kept leasing in-house for much of its portfolio. It’s the first of the firm’s asset shifts after enlisting former Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke to oversee management operations in May, according to the Fort Worth Report.
The buildings now listed by LanCarte include the 59,000-square-foot Schwarz Building at 505 Main Street, the 56,000-square-foot Burk Burnett Building at 500 Main, the 99,000-square-foot Cassidy Building and the 201,000-square-foot Chase Bank Building at 420 Throckmorton. Also included is a 12,000-square-foot women-focused coworking concept called The Maven, slated to occupy the fourth floor of the Schwarz Building, with interiors reportedly designed by Anthropologie.
Sundance Square encompasses 1.7 million square feet, much of it office, but brokers say leasing transparency has long been elusive and longtime tenants have exited in recent months. JPMorgan Chase, one of the district’s biggest office users, plans to vacate as it relocates to the Crescent Offices West development in the nearby Cultural District.
In response, the Bass family has made a number of leadership and branding changes. The district has stepped up programming, including pop-up markets and the launch of The Spotlight, a live music venue nodding to Ed Bass’s past efforts with Caravan of Dreams.
Cooke stepped down after 10 years as city manager, the longest of any Fort Worth city manager, in February; he had already recused himself from all city business involving Sundance Square in 2022 after failing to disclose a trip he and his spouse took to Aspen, Colorado, with the Bass couple on their private jet, according to the outlet.
Sundance Square Inc. still handles much of the area’s real estate, but the LanCarte assignment signals a new phase for the district’s office strategy that may reflect a push for more structure, visibility and outside brokerage firepower in a market still seeking post-pandemic footing.
The Bass’ firm faced questions over its downtown holdings in the last year as multiple high-profile storefronts across the district were vacant, despite high demand.
— Judah Duke
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