Vertical work begins in January on Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks,with completion between November and first quarter 2009, BillCawley, chairman and CEO for Dallas-based GVA Cawley, tellsGlobeSt.com. Touted as the hotel where Elvis slept, Cawleyaffiliate Wilcox Capital Partners acquired the 12-acreasset in August 2002 for $5.5 million, pumping in capitalfor a renovation to keep income flowing while the site's futurecould be worked out.

"I just love Fort Worth. I just think there are a lot ofbarriers to entry," Cawley says. Although he owns two officeproperties in the city, he's familiar with developmentroadblocks when it comes to change, particularly spec office. Hisbid for a Downtown office building met with resistance due in partto its height, with the project going on the backburner and hisfocus shifting to the hotel site at Green Oaks Boulevard andInterstate 30. The redevelopment hasn't been a secret, but Cawley'sbeen on the quiet side about the strategy underwriting the newproject.

"I'm going to go there, build a quality project and let themarket decide what to do with it," Cawley says of his break throughto Fort Worth's development circle and using spec to do it. He sayshe's also planning to break with tradition after the work is doneon the three-story building, which gets 8.78 acres of the tract sothere's room for more right next door. "In the past, we build andsell, but I love Fort Worth. This is a building we'll probably holdfor the long term," he confides.