New owners dreaming up plans for historic O.B. Macaroni Building

Plans are afoot to bring new life to the O.B. Macaroni Building just south of downtown Fort Worth, where pasta was made for more than a century.

The iconic three-story brick building, located at Vickery and the South Freeway in the shadow of the mixmaster, was vacated last year when the macaroni company moved to a new home along Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth. Two silos with the O.B. (Our Best) Macaroni logos still stand out from one of the building additions.

M2G Ventures, formed two years ago by twin sisters Jessica Worman and Susan Gruppi, bought the 42,000-square-foot building last month from Britton New, who had purchased it from the macaroni company a year earlier.

The sisters are still working on a redevelopment plan but the next tenant probably won’t be industrial, according to Natalie Pedigo, marketing manager for M2G.

So far, M2G has focused on retail and mixed-use projects including updates at The Crossing at Camp Bowie, a retail/restaurant center at the southwest quadrant of Camp Bowie and Interstate 30, and renovations at 200 Carroll St. in Fort Worth. It’s also redeveloping the building at 1305 Magnolia St., where Great Harvest Bread Co. is preparing to open.

Its projects are highlighted with a Dreamer series of murals by artist Katie Murray, including the “Dream on Dreamer” work at The Crossing and “Follow Your Dreams” on Magnolia.

It will be interesting to see what the pair dreams up for the O.B. site, which sits in an industrial area but is also near a wave of renovations and new development transforming neighborhoods south of downtown.

According to M2G, the O.B. building dates to the 1860s when it was originally a stagecoach hotel. What was then called Fort Worth Macaroni Co. moved into the building in 1905.

Late last year, O.B. Macaroni moved to its new facility at 3066 SE Loop 820.

This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 10:56 AM with the headline "New owners dreaming up plans for historic O.B. Macaroni Building."