Burnett Plaza, the behemoth of Cowtown's skyline, teeters on the brink of foreclosure. Pinnacle Bank has thrown a financial lasso around the 40-story landmark, with foreclosure papers filed at the Tarrant County Clerk's Office on April 12, as reported by The Dallas Express. Burnett Cherry Street LLC, under the wing of New York-based Opal Holdings, stumbled on a $13 million mortgage, causing alarms to sound on Wall Street.

In the heart of Fort Worth, the 1-million-square-foot office giant was snagged by Burnett for a hefty $137.5 million back in 2021. But hold your horses – there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon: a possible stall to the foreclosure before the May 7 auction date, as the Fort Worth Report outlines. Opal and the bank might yet strike a deal that'll keep the doors open and the elevators running.

Messy legal tangles weave through the structure’s steel bones, with more than $1.6 million in mechanics' liens lodged by contractors left in the cold for completed renovations. Adding to the pile, a slew of lawsuits aimed at Opal's umbrella company for unpaid damages echoes the black ink of the loan documents.

Not one to shy from a brawl, Opal has pushed back, slinging a lawsuit at Pinnacle Bank in return. Claiming the bank has wrangled undue control over Burnett Plaza, Opal also charges it with blocking payments to construction companies for building improvements. As grabbed from the business pages, Pinnacle allegedly insisted tenants pay them directly, snubbing Burnett entirely. Both parties involved have clamped down, avoiding media inquiries about their standoff.

While Burnett Plaza may scrape the heavens higher than the 38-story Bank of America Tower, its financial footing has proven far less lofty. Opal's fortress of offices and panoramic views now dances on a tightrope of deadlines and legal spats, hoping not to plunge into the hands of auctioneers come May. The ghost of a once-assured future now haunts the halls of this Fort Worth giant.