WFAA, Dallas’s ABC affiliate, reported on the listing of the Purse Building at 601 Elm Street in Downtown Dallas, focusing on one of the property’s most remarkable distinctions: the six-story landmark served as the FBI’s command center during the investigation of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. Wildcat Management, led by Tanya Ragan, listed the fully renovated historic building for sale in April 2023.
Key Highlights
- WFAA reported on the Purse Building listing, emphasizing its role as the FBI’s command center during the JFK assassination investigation in 1963
- The building sits directly across the street from Dealey Plaza and the former Texas School Book Depository, now home to the Sixth Floor Museum
- Built in 1905, the six-story Chicago Italianate-style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- Wildcat Management acquired the building after it sat vacant for nearly three decades and completed a full core and shell renovation in 2020
- The renovation preserved original century-old pine wood floors, aged timber columns, and exposed brick walls while adding modern fixtures and aesthetics
- Brokers Joe Santelli and Matthew Sheard of Marcus and Millichap represent the listing
Why This Coverage Matters
WFAA is one of the most watched local news outlets in North Texas. Television coverage of the Purse Building listing brought the story to a mass Dallas audience — not just the commercial real estate community or historic preservation advocates, but everyday Dallasites who may not have known that a building linked to one of the most significant events in American history was privately owned, renovated, and now available for redevelopment.
The JFK angle is genuinely compelling and historically accurate. The building’s location — directly across from Dealey Plaza — and its documented use by the FBI during the assassination investigation give it a layer of American history that no other commercial property in Dallas can claim. WFAA understood that story and told it to the city.
As Seen on WFAA
Founder and President of Wildcat Management, Tanya Ragan is a Dallas real estate developer, investor, and entrepreneur with twenty years developing some of North Texas’s most recognized neighborhoods. 2024 Texas Icon. Top 100 CRE Influencer. Co-author of Blaze Your Own Trail. She started in fashion, detoured through oil fields, built half of downtown Dallas, and has opinions about all three.