The tower, which houses a boutique hotel, offices of local businesses, an art gallery and historical museum, and a bar within its 19 stories, announced on Friday that it was closing, that the majority of the staff had been laid off, that tenants had 30 days to move out and that all reservations for the hotel were canceled. On Thursday, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy announced that it had filed Uniform Commercial Code statements against the Price Tower owners to "put potential buyers on notice that covered items from the collection cannot be sold without the Conservancy’s consent." Earlier this year, the tower's current owners had sold a number of artifacts from the tower's collections, including some items the conservancy said were one-of-a-kind, to 20c Design, a Dallas company that specializes in high-end, mid-century furniture and accessories.
The conservancy holds that those items were protected under its preservation easement with the Price Tower, which has been in place since 2011. According to Barbara Gordon, executive director of the conservancy, the preservation easement is held in perpetuity, regardless of any change in owner of the building. "Our lawyers have been in contact with the people at 20c Design, and their sale of these items appears to be on hold," Gordon said.
"Our next step is to negotiate with them about getting these items back to the Price Tower and to stop any more items from the building to be sold off." The statements were filed with.