XTO buys Transport Life Building

Huh.

XTO Energy has bought the former Transport Life Insurance Co. building at Seventh and Main streets, just a couple of weeks after a real estate group detailed plans to redevelop the 24-story building for tenant office space.

So, the project we reported on earlier that would reopen the building as a multi-tenant office tower has been killed by XTO’s purchase. XTO also bought the site bounded by 8th, Commerce, and 9th that would have housed 714 Main’s parking garage. No plan for that site was announced in the article.

While it’s excellent that 714 Main is getting redeveloped by a company with such a great track record of restoration, it begs the question of how much more XTO can expand to existing buildings before they’re going to have to build a new building. I am also curious to see what they’re going to do with the former parking garage site, since it had been speculated that the new garage would have had ground-level retail. If it just becomes another surface lot, it would be rather unfortunate.

Still, I look forward to seeing 714 Main fully restored as I’m sure XTO will do. Its ’80s “restoration” was not fully accurate. Whoever is doing it, it’s good to see the old Transport Life Building brought back to life.