After a fruitless search in a scorching hot Dallas commercial real estate market, Ben DuBose had just about given up buying a property in which to relocate his plaintiffs personal injury law practice last year when he spotted a shuttered office building on North Central Expressway.

The empty, white, one-story 1954-era brick building wasn't listed for sale. But the faded sign above the entrance read “Adelfa B. Callejo”—a name that any native Dallas lawyer instantly recognizes.

“I asked my agent, 'Hey, look at that building.' I knew she had passed away,” DuBose said. “I remembered her as a kid, and I knew she was a historic figure in Dallas.”