Los Angeles-based investor Younan Properties Inc. is negotiating to purchase its third skyscraper in downtown Dallas.

The real estate firm has a contract to buy the 30-story One Dallas Centre tower on Bryan Street.

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Built in 1979, One Dallas Centre is only about 40 percent leased.

Built in 1979, the 615,000-square-foot office building is only about 40 percent leased.

The property has been marketed for sale since last year on behalf of its New York owners.

"We are closing the One Dallas Centre purchase in three weeks," investor Zaya Younan said Wednesday.

Mr. Younan said he plans to spend $10 million in the first phase of renovations of the tower.

"The building has not been well maintained, but we will take care of that," he said.

The new owner plans to change the name to Patriot Tower, and a war memorial museum will be built on the ground floor.

One Dallas Centre was designed by I.M. Pei & Associates and was the first of three high-rise buildings planned on the downtown block. But construction of a second, taller office building and a luxury hotel were canceled.

Mr. Younan has already purchased downtown's 50-story Thanksgiving Tower and the 34-story KPMG Center. The acquisition of One Dallas Centre would make Mr. Younan one of the biggest office landlords downtown.

"He has some ambitious plans for turning the building around," a spokeswoman for the company said Wednesday.

One Dallas Centre is valued for taxes at more than $26 million.

In February, Younan Properties paid about $107 million for Thanksgiving Tower.

Younan Properties owns more than a dozen office buildings in the Dallas area with more than 6 million square feet.