{"id":21852,"date":"2026-02-05T23:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2026\/02\/05\/downtown-dallas-skyscraper-the-national-taken-in-foreclosure\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:33:08","slug":"downtown-dallas-skyscraper-the-national-taken-in-foreclosure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2026\/02\/05\/downtown-dallas-skyscraper-the-national-taken-in-foreclosure\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Dallas skyscraper the National taken in foreclosure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Foreclosure of The National Skyscraper in Dallas<\/h1>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The lender for The National has taken ownership of the 52-story, mixed-use skyscraper in Dallas\u2019 central business district, records show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Ownership reverted to Starwood Property Trust, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, following a foreclosure auction Tuesday on the steps of the George Allen Courts Building. The listed purchase price was $207 million. Existing debt was used to buy the building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Attempts to contact Starwood before publication were not returned. Dallas developer Shawn Todd, the building\u2019s previous owner, could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The foreclosure and Starwood\u2019s acquisition of the tower at 1401 Elm St. was expected.<\/p>\n<h2>Background of the Foreclosure<\/h2>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">In an exclusive interview last month, Todd told The Dallas Morning News that he owed roughly $230 million to Starwood. The lender filed the foreclosure in early January, and Todd said he would not fight the proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>An exterior view of The National, a 52-story Elm Street building which has been renovated into a mixed-use project with hotel rooms, apartments, retail and offices in the old First National Bank Tower in downtown Dallas, Friday, November 13, 2020. The 219-room Thompson Dallas luxury hotel is part of the $460 million redevelopment of downtown\u2019s landmark building.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<h3>Reasons for the Foreclosure<\/h3>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Todd cited high interest rates and lower downtown property values as reasons for the foreclosure. He previously said occupancy in the apartments had fallen below 80%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Todd said he refinanced with Starwood three years ago, but talks with the lender weren\u2019t enough to save the property from foreclosure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">\u201cWith our debt balance, the interest rate environment and property values downtown&#8230; we don\u2019t see a path to us recouping our remaining equity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been committed to downtown. We\u2019ve been committed for 20 years. In 35 years, our firm has never lost money \u2014 this is the first year that it\u2019s happened.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h4>The National Skyscraper Project<\/h4>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Todd and his firm Todd Interests invested more than $460 million in a redo of the former National Bank Tower.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The midcentury tower sat empty for a decade before it underwent one of the largest urban restoration projects in the nation. The 1.5 million-square-foot office tower became a combination of apartments, hotel rooms, retail, restaurants and office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Todd touted the deal in 2019 as the \u201clargest historic tax-credit deal in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The developers got $100 million in historic tax credits and $50 million in Dallas tax increment financing that made the project viable.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:4725 \/ 3119\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1300px) 830px, (min-width: 768px) 66.66vw, 60vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/45OFHQM5I5AOZPWFUMAGNWMVU4.jpg?auth=0842776641fc255ae34a7fad89bf96f62ef3883578258de67a7059c006a2c5bd&#038;quality=80&#038;width=250 250w, https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/45OFHQM5I5AOZPWFUMAGNWMVU4.jpg?auth=0842776641fc255ae34a7fad89bf96f62ef3883578258de67a7059c006a2c5bd&#038;quality=80&#038;width=430 430w, https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/45OFHQM5I5AOZPWFUMAGNWMVU4.jpg?auth=0842776641fc255ae34a7fad89bf96f62ef3883578258de67a7059c006a2c5bd&#038;quality=80&#038;width=830 830w\" class=\"dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain\" width=\"4725\" height=\"3119\" src=\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/45OFHQM5I5AOZPWFUMAGNWMVU4.jpg?auth=0842776641fc255ae34a7fad89bf96f62ef3883578258de67a7059c006a2c5bd&#038;quality=80&#038;width=830\" alt=\"The Catbird patio (left), pool deck (right) and lawn terrace areas of the 219-room Thompson...\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Catbird patio (left), pool deck (right) and lawn terrace areas of the 219-room Thompson Dallas luxury hotel, Friday, November 13, 2020. The hotel is part of the National a 52-story Elm Street building which has been renovated into a mixed-use project with hotel rooms, apartments, retail and offices in the old First National Bank Tower in downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<h5>Future Plans for The National<\/h5>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">\u201cThe values aren\u2019t there. That\u2019s the main reason,\u201d Todd previously said of the foreclosure. \u201cThe loan is due, and we\u2019re not going to continue to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear what Starwood plans to do with the property. All six restaurants, including the Italian steakhouse and seafood spot Monarch, will remain open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Opened in 1965, the downtown skyscraper was designed by noted Dallas architects George Dahl and Thomas Stanley. It was the largest vacant building in North Texas when it closed in 2010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">It was the last of the city\u2019s great skyscrapers to be repurposed, according to previous News reporting.<\/p>\n<h6>Todd Interests and The National<\/h6>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">The foreclosure sales come just months after Todd\u2019s firm offloaded its entire share of the 20-acre East Quarter development on the eastern edge of downtown to partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management for an undisclosed sum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-text-paragraph\">Todd Interests has been behind some of the city\u2019s preeminent redevelopments. In addition to The National, the firm was behind the $300 million renovation and rebranding of Dallas\u2019 Energy Plaza into the Sinclair.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:5760 \/ 3840\" sizes=\"(\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Foreclosure of The National Skyscraper in Dallas The lender for The National has taken ownership of the 52-story, mixed-use skyscraper in Dallas\u2019 central business district, records show. Ownership reverted to Starwood Property Trust, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, following a foreclosure auction Tuesday on the steps of the George Allen Courts Building. The listed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-real-estate"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/X65IHIVGXNA7VL3WMMQEWRBWHQ.jpg?auth=2a1ea26dd525375c4c7af08e336f1a3a85dd0e4a4ebce1e3d93727a3117020cd&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21855,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21852\/revisions\/21855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}