January 6, 2022
The 18-story Richards Group high-rise overlooks North Central Expressway in the Cityplace development at Blackburn Street and was purchased by a partnership of local and New York investors.
Built in 2015, the 250,000-square-foot office building was constructed to house the headquarters of Dallas advertising and marketing firm Richards Group.
Dallas-based commercial property firm OliveMill Holdings and Hunt Realty Investments teamed up with New York-based Angelo Gordon — a major investor with billions of dollars in real estate holdings in the U.S. and abroad — to buy the Dallas building.
The partnership bought the tower from SBR Real Estate Holdings LP, a company set up by the Richards Group to build the headquarters. Richards Group CFO Scot Dykema signed the sales documents and was listed as the manager of the partnership that sold the building.
Angelo Gordon representatives would not comment on the firm’s plans for the tower.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The building originally cost $45 million but was most recently valued for taxes at more than $60 million.
Richards Group CEO Glenn Dady, who confirmed the sale, said the firm is evaluating whether it will remain in the Cityplace tower.
“It’s undecided if The Richards Group will remain in the building as a tenant,” Dady said in a email. “We are currently in talks with the new owners.”
Richards Group designed the high-rise at 2801 North Central with architect Perkins + Will to house more than 600 employees. The city of Dallas provided economic incentives based on the employment numbers.
The advertising firm began cutting employees in 2020 after it lost major accounts due to controversial comments by founder Stan Richards. Richards has since left the firm.
The decline in Richards Group’s workforce in the Dallas building ended the tax abatements on the property last year. Real estate brokers say the company intends to downsize its office footprint.
The Richards Group building’s new owners are:
OliveMill Holdings worked with Hunt Realty late last year to relocate JPMorgan Chase Bank’s downtown Dallas offices and the Petroleum Club to the Hunt building at Akard Street and Woodall Rodgers Freeway.
Because of its high-profile freeway location in Uptown next door to DART’s Cityplace light rail station, the Richards Group building would be highly attractive to businesses looking for a Dallas address.
“The building’s quality and location are unmatched, and it fits perfectly with our goal of acquiring high-quality assets in dynamic locations,” Yates said. “We want to be good stewards of this iconic building on one of Dallas’ most-traveled highways.”
The area north of downtown is forecasted to have a shortage of office space in the next year, with few new buildings opening until 2023 or later.
Hunt Consolidated, Inc. is the flagship entity of the entire Hunt family of companies, a privately owned group of entities based in Dallas, Texas. The areas of activity of the different Hunt companies include oil and gas exploration and production, refining, LNG, power, real estate, investments, ranching and infrastructure.
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Contact: TKleinert@huntrealty.com
Diane Hornquist works with the general counsel to oversee legal activities associated with various land development and operating company initiatives. Hornquist began her legal career at the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP in the real estate section.
Contact: DHornquist@huntrealty.com
Contact: TWatson@huntrealty.com
Mike Wallace is responsible for all aspects of Hunt Realty Investments overseeing the firm’s direct-owned real estate portfolio, operating company investments and other real estate activities. He is responsible for sourcing and structuring all new investment activity, as well as Hunt Realty’s interaction and investment relationship with other Hunt-related entities.
Throughout his career, he has been involved in investments in single-assets, real estate portfolios, distressed loan portfolios and private and publicly-traded companies including equity, preferred equity, mezzanine and participating debt investments. His experience spans a broad array of product sectors including office, multi-family, hospitality, retail, senior living, student housing, industrial, residential and land.
Prior to joining Hunt Realty, Wallace was with The Hampstead Group, a Dallas-based real estate private equity fund which invested approximately $1 billion on behalf of institutional and private investors. While at The Hampstead Group, his responsibilities included new investment opportunities in real estate portfolios, publicly-traded companies and distressed loan portfolio acquisitions as well as management of the fund’s investments. He also previously worked for EFO Realty, a real estate opportunity fund where he sourced and structured joint-venture equity investments.
Contact: MWallace@huntrealty.com
Chris Kleinert is CEO and president of Hunt Consolidated Investments, LLC, and Co-CEO of its holding company, Hunt Consolidated, Inc. He is president of Hunt Realty Investments and oversees the operations of both Hunt Investment Group and Hoodoo Land and Cattle Company, as well as the financial activities of the holding company. Other business interests of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. include oil and gas exploration and production, petroleum refining, electric power generation and transmission. Kleinert’s affiliation with Hunt Consolidated began in 1996. Kleinert received an MBA with a concentration in finance from Texas Christian University and a BBA in marketing from Southern Methodist University. Prior to joining Hunt, he was employed by Texas Commerce Bank (now JPMorgan Chase) and General Mills. Kleinert serves on the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University and SMU’s Tate Lecture Board of Directors. He also serves on the Neeley School of Business International Board of Visitors at Texas Christian University, the Board of Trustees of the Communities Foundation of Texas, the Board of Directors of Amegy Bank -Dallas, and the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Board of Directors. Kleinert chairs the Board of Directors of the newly created Men’s Advocacy Group for New Friends New Life. In 2009, Chris and his wife, Ashlee, founded Executives in Action (EIA), a nonprofit organization that leveraged the talent and expertise of executives in transition with local charitable organizations to enhance their productivity, efficiency and overall impact. In 2016, EIA merged 4 with New York-based Catchafire, Inc. to form Catchafire North Texas and expand the number of volunteers and nonprofits that can be matched nationally.
Contact: CKleinert@huntconsolidated.com
Contact: CFitzgibbons@huntrealty.com