Metro Tower Lofts Renovation in Early Stages, Major Downtown Revitalization to Follow

By Reece Nations

Lubbock’s tallest building, formerly known as the Great Plains Life Building, sat vacant and underused for years when it was purchased by NTS Communications in 1997. Located at 1220 Broadway, this prominent feature of the city’s skyline is being transformed into affordable residential housing units after a deal was brokered this summer between its current tenants and MRE Captial by WestMark Commercial/TCN Worldwide.

MRE Capital’s plan to renovate the NTS Communications Tower into a residential space was conceptualized for years, Alison Blalock, the certified commercial investment manager with WestMark who closed on the deal, said. However, extensive damage caused by the May 1970 tornado that killed 26 and caused $135 million in damages to the downtown area made it difficult for a deal to be reached until now. 

“We’ve been trying to purchase the building for four years, but the timing was not right,” Blalock said. “The way that this was able to happen is through tax-credit housing. Affordable housing tax credits (obtained through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs) are what’s directing the flow of private capital towards the development, without the need of tax-payer funds.”

Exterior ground-level view of the NTS Communication Tower, looking northeast. Photo by Reece Nations.

WestMark is working with the Texas Historical Commission to add the building to the Texas Historic Landmarks Registry in order to be eligible for the Texas Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, she said. The state historic tax credit provides a discount for 25 percent of eligible rehabilitation costs.

Expenses that qualify for the deduction include structural work, building repairs, heating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and roof work, according to the THC website. The historic tax credit program will also cover architectural and engineering fees, legal expenses, site survey fees and development fees.

Originally created as an office building in 1955, modern revisions to fire codes have rendered floors 7 through 20 off limits, Blalock said. The addition of a secondary staircase was the solution to this issue; however, its location was strategically arranged to maintain historic-registry eligibility.

“There (is) a long corridor down the center of the hallway on each floor with offices surrounding it, so historically that’s how the building looked from the interior,” she said. “We are keeping that main corridor on every floor and the residential units are going to be all along the outside as well.”

Eighty-nine residential units, ranging in size from efficiency spaces to two-bedroom lofts, will be built in the renovated Metro Tower Lofts building, Blalock said. Just 14 of those units will be leased at typical market rates, leaving the remaining 75 units available at reduced rates to individuals or families who qualify for the program.

News of WestMark’s acquisition of the property broke on July 30, when a news release containing the project’s details circulated. With the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, the Cotton Court hotel, Citizens Tower and other projects all expected to be completed within the next few years, Blalock said the revamped Metro Tower continues the trend of economic revitalization in Lubbock. 

Metro Tower signage outside the building’s lobby. Photo by Reece Nations

“We had tons of support from (Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope), from every city council member and from (State Representative) John Frullo,” she said. “We wanted people to know the opportunity is so rare to preserve a part of the city’s history and create new economic development in downtown Lubbock, all without using tax-payer funding. So, the support we got from those people was crucial.”

Ultimately, the redevelopment of the Metro Tower Lofts could have a resounding effect on the portion of downtown Lubbock that has struggled to flourish in the decades following the tornado, Blalock said. This project will likely create a demand for additional commercial space and restaurant locations in the area. 

While the timeline for the permitting process remains unclear and no timeline for construction has been set, Blalock said she expects crews to begin the remodel by early 2020. 

Concerns about the building’s structural integrity and physical fortitude are unfounded, Kishore Mehta, Horn Professor in the Texas Tech Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, said. Buildings more than five stories tall are too large to be toppled by wind, even with gusts from F-5 tornadoes reaching speeds of well over 200 miles per hour. 

Obtained from Kishor Mehta and the Texas Tech University Department of Engineering.

“The building’s skeleton — the beams and columns built within the building’s walls — are designed by structural engineers to flex in certain areas when the building sways,” Mehta said. “However, the façade was heavily damaged. The bricks and windows on the exterior are designed for aesthetic purposes, not for structural integrity.” 

Part of what makes the Metro Tower an iconic structure and significant to the history of Lubbock is that it is the second-largest known building in the world to survive direct gusts from an F-5 tornado. When the building was inspected after the storm had subsided, some of the load-bearing beams on the fourth-floor levels and above had bent and required repairs, he said. 

These beams had shifted the building between 10 to 12 inches from their original position, Mehta said. Although the internal structure had to be realigned and reinforced after the tornado, the building was not in danger of being toppled.

Sixty percent of all exterior windows were destroyed in the storm, and a ground perspective view of the building gave the appearance that it was leaning three or four feet to the east, he said. The solid masonry of the walls provided enough stiffness so that the structure’s deflection was small. 

Obtained from Kishor Mehta and the Texas Tech University Department of Engineering.

“The partitions within the building that ran in an east-west direction were cracking due to the diagonal tension,” Mehta said. “The largest deformation in the building was determined to be at the south end with deflection being toward the east.”  

Although no photographic or video evidence of the tornado exists, it is believed to have been one-and-a-half miles wide at its largest point, according to Texas Tech Today. Ted Fujita, professor of meteorology at the University of Chicago and pioneer of the Fujita Scale, also known as the F-Scale System, researched the 1970 storm in Lubbock extensively during his studies of meteorological phenomena. 

Despite permanent deformation of the columns and beams between the fifth and sixth floors, surveys determined the building itself had only moved a fraction of an inch, Mehta said. No evidence of any rivets failing was found and most major bending due to side-sway was observed in the structure’s columns rather than the beams.

 

With continued innovation in the field of meteorology, there is no need to fear the consequences of creating residential space in the newly refurbished building, he said. Meteorologists can issue tornado watches and warnings further in advance with modern technology than they could when the 1970 tornado battered Lubbock.

“Structural engineering has done very well in protecting the lives of people,” Mehta said. “Even though (the tornado) came after typical business hours, there were still people in the building when it struck. But, because its design was carefully done, they were able to evacuate and tell people about their experience.”

 

About Reece Nations: Undergraduate Managing Editor