- Steve Brown, Dallas Morning News

The former Richards Group building is hard to miss.

Perched on the edge of North Central Expressway, it rises prominently into view when driving from the north into downtown Dallas.

The familiar 18-story tower is about to see big changes.

With the recent departure of the building’s namesake advertising firm, new owners are planning a revamp that will give the Uptown Dallas office a new identity: One West Village.

But the true selling point for other potential tenants is the location.

“Over a quarter million cars pass by this building every day,” said Ryan McManigal, partner with OliveMill Holdings. “The tenant signage potential looking down 75 is probably one of the best in the city.”

OliveMill Holdings acquired the tower last year, in partnership with Dallas’ Hunt Realty Investments and New York-based Angelo, Gordon & Co.

With the Richards Group’s – now TRG Inc. – recent move to Deep Ellum, the high-profile high-rise is empty for the first time since it opened in 2015. The advertising firm’s signs are coming down.

Construction crews are about to start a revamp of the building to ready it for new businesses.

“We’ve talked with a number of large corporate users who are very keen on the potential to have their sign up there,” McManigal said. “We have tenants from all kinds of financial and professional services firms looking. We have a lot of activity now for between 30,000 and 150,000 square feet.

To add to the appeal of the building, renovations will center on moving tenant amenities from the upper levels down to the ground floor.

Architect Gensler is handling the redo, which will include a new coffee bar and grab-and-go cafe near the entrance. “The coffee shop will actually have a door to spill out onto a 7,000-square-foot patio space,” McManigal said.

A new fitness center will also have access to the outdoor area on the north side of the tower facing Blackburn Street. Another lobby space will be repurposed as a conference facility.

“As you walk in and turn to the right, there will be what we are calling the tenant library conference facilities,” McManigal said. “We are trying to bring a lot of the amenities to the ground floor.”

The renovations are also planned to give more emphasis to the south side of the building facing Cityplace Boulevard, which provides a short walk to nearby eateries.

“The DART rail stop and trolly terminus are right there,” he said.

The eight floors of office space up for grabs at One West Village sit on top of 10 levels of enclosed parking.

“It’s full glass on the exterior all the way down the garage, which is expensive to do,” McManigal said.

Architect Perkins & Will designed the tower, which includes an atrium and large open stairways on the upper floors that are visible from the outside at night.

“The quality of construction and architecture and build-out was superb,” McManigal said.

Construction on the high-rise remodeling should begin in about a month, with completion set for late summer.

Offices on the large upper floors of the building have 360-degree views of downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

“It’s one of the coolest views in the whole city,” McManigal said, stretching from downtown to Fair Park to North Dallas and the Park Cities. “It’s a unique viewpoint. You can see Deep Ellum all the way through Oak Lawn with a panoramic view.”

With first-class office space in short supply in the area north of downtown Dallas, demand is strong for new buildings.

“This renovation will reposition One West Village as a highly inviting office space as companies strive to attract their teams back to the office,” he said.

One West Village is one of the last towers built at Cityplace, the 130-acre development that dates to the 1980s.

“There are roughly 6,000 apartment units within a quarter of a mile walking distance of here,” McManigal said.

OliveMill Holdings was founded in 2021 as a commercial property investment, development and operating firm. The three founding partners of the company were previously with Dallas developer KDC.

OliveMill Holdings recently worked with Hunt Realty on renovations at downtown Dallas’ 1900 N. Akard building to accommodate Chase Bank’s relocation.

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