The familiar gold-glass towers at 8777 and 8787 N. Stemmons Freeway, once home to Mary Kay’s Dallas headquarters, are on track to swap office life for luxury living as a new apartment community called The Founder. Centurion American has filed state plans to turn the two office buildings into roughly 176 units, with construction targeted to start in August 2026 and wrap up by April 2028.
Centurion American submitted its plans to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to convert the Optima Business Park into The Founder, according to The Real Deal. The filing outlines about 211,000 square feet slated for residential use and lays out initial size and cost estimates for the redevelopment.
In a statement to The Dallas Morning News, Centurion American spokesperson Kelly Hunter said the project “will offer a Class A living experience, with both buildings featuring floor-to-ceiling windows for strong natural light.” Hunter also pointed to the property’s proximity to the Medical District as a draw for nearby professionals, and The Dallas Morning News reports that Centurion acquired the towers from Ricchi Group in October 2025.
Cost, timeline and funding
The conversion is expected to run about $43.1 million, and Centurion has lined up roughly $15 million in historic tax credits to help cover the bill, according to The Real Deal. The developer says the buildings’ extensive window lines ease some of the usual structural headaches of office-to-residential projects and help support the per-unit investment the plan requires.
Amenities and Mary Kay's next move
Plans on file show a lineup of resident amenities that includes a pool, fitness center, business center and pickleball courts, features the developer believes will resonate with hospital and research employees in the area, The Dallas Morning News reports. Mary Kay, which shifted its headquarters in 1995 to a 33-acre campus in Addison, has also indicated it may sell that Addison property at 16251 Dallas Parkway, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Ownership and legal history
The towers come with a complicated backstory. Ricchi Group purchased and rebranded the property in 2020, and federal officials have linked the site to an international money-laundering investigation, the Department of Justice said in a 2020 press release. Local coverage at the time detailed Ricchi’s acquisition and subsequent upgrades to the complex, D Magazine reported.
Why this matters
The Founder is one more entry in a growing list of office-to-residential conversions across the Dallas-Fort Worth region, as developers try to reposition underused office space to meet housing demand, a trend industry reports have highlighted. Centurion’s filing with the state formalizes the proposal; city permitting and the full state review will determine whether the project actually hits the ambitious timeline the developer has put on paper.
