In recent weeks, North Texas real estate firm Wolfe Investments LLC has lost three office towers to foreclosure.
An office tower located in downtown Dallas was sold at a foreclosure auction earlier this month, according to the Dallas Business Journal. It has been revealed that two other buildings are affected: an Oil & Gas Building located in downtown Fort and the Windsor Senior Living apartment complex in Dallas along Interstate 635.
Early last year, The Dallas Express reported that Wolfe Investments partnered with Bluelofts Inc. to purchase the Oil & Gas Building as part of a project to convert it into a mixed-used high-rise combining apartments and retail. The Windsor, per the DBJ, was similarly in a joint partnership between the two firms.
However, on February 2, WO&G Holdings — an entity with ties to the lender on both buildings, Legacy Bank & Trust – was confirmed to have obtained the deed to both properties.
The exact reasons for the acquisition remain unclear; however, in a lawsuit filed in Dallas County district court in December, the stakeholder of Priya Capital LLC, Niraj Shah, claimed Wolfe Investments failed to make payments on a $6 million short-term loan from Shah intended to help Wolfe finalize the purchase of 211 N. Ervay, per the DBJ.
Shah also claims the deal gave him a stake in the Oil & Gas Building and permitted him to force a sale. Shah claims Wolfe Investments did not use the short-term loan as intended to close on the downtown Dallas property; instead, Wolfe Investments used the loan to obtain additional financing for the Fort Worth building.
In November, Legacy Bank & Trust sued the Wolfe affiliate that owned the Windsor. The lawsuit alleged that the entity failed to make payments on its $13 million loan obligation.
Legacy Bank & Trust intends to unload both properties but has not commented further on the event.