HOUSTON GALLERIA

'The Galleria' is an upscale mixed-use urban development centrally located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, one of the largest business districts in the country, just outside the city's I-610 inner beltway. It is at one of the busiest surface street intersections in the country, Post Oak Boulevard at Westheimer Road.
The Galleria, sometimes referred to as the 'Houston Galleria' (to distinguish it from establishments in other cities with a similar name), consists of a retail complex, as well as three office towers, two Westin hotels, and a private health club. The office towers and hotels are separately owned and managed from the shopping center, which in itself is the largest mall in Texas and sixth-largest in the United States. It is currently anchored by two separate full-line Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Contents

History

Stores

References

External links

History

The idea of an indoor shopping center with a hotel was envisioned in the 1950s by oilman Glenn H. McCarthy where a second phase was to include a shopping center with the Shamrock Hotel; this concept was scrapped right after the Hilton Hotel franchise took over the Shamrock in 1955. Glenn H. McCarthy's abandoned concept would influence Gerald Hines in the late 1960s.
The Galleria was developed by Gerald D. Hines, opening in 1970. The new shopping center, anchored by Neiman Marcus, was modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. When it opened the mall had 600,000 ft² (56,000 m²) of retail space. The original skylights had three hanging chandeliers, along with the incorporation of the Houston Oaks Hotel (now The Westin Oaks Houston).
The first expansion, known as Galleria II, was completed in 1976 and added 360,000 ft² (33,000 m²) of retail space on two levels, as well as Lord & Taylor and Frost Bros. Marshall Field's joined the mall in 1979, in a store designed by noted architect Philip Johnson. Galleria II included office space (known as the Galleria Financial Center since the early 1990s) and a second hotel, the Galleria Plaza Hotel (now The Westin Galleria Houston ). In 1986, a second expansion, Galleria III, opened with a new wing to the west of Marshall Field's, anchored by Macy's. This brought the mall to almost 1.6 million ft².
Marshall Field's sold their store to Saks Fifth Avenue in 1996, while the mall itself was sold by Hines Interests in 1999 to a partnership of Urban Shopping Centers, Inc. and institutional funds advised by Walton Street Capital, LLC. The Walton Street affiliated funds separately purchased the office and hotel buildings at this time. Urban in its turn, was purchased by Netherlands-headquartered real estate investment group Rodamco North America, N.V. in 2000. Rodamco sold part of its stake in 2001 to the real estate investment arm of CalPERS as it tried to thwart a hostile takeover by a consortium including The Westfield Group and Simon Property Group. Ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the buyout, Rodamco's ownership interest and management operation of the mall was acquired by Simon Property Group in early 2002.
During all these rapid ownership changes, development continued on a third expansion of the shopping center, known as Galleria IV. Completed in March 2003, it added 800,000 ft² to the south, anchored by Nordstrom and Foley's, as well as an additional 70 stores. Upon completion of Galleria IV, the shopping mall totaled 2.4 million ft² (220,000 m²) of retail space.
In January 2005, Lord & Taylor closed their store, with its former space being partially demolished and incorporated into the mall as an additional 100,000 ft² (9,300 m²) of retail space that opened in August 2006. This redevelopment included a Borders Books and Music, Kona Grill, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Del Frisco's Steakhouse, and nine other retail stores. During the reconstruction, some of the former Lord & Taylor infrastructure was recycled although a section of catwalks dating back to the Galleria II's 1976 expansion has been demolished; this trend was similar to the Galleria IV's expansion in 2002.
In 2005, after the merger of the parent companies of Macy's and Foley's, it was announced that the Macy's store would close and that the Foley's would be renamed Macy's. The Foley's was renamed in September 2006, but the original Macy's continues to operate, both as separate full-line department stores. This could be part of the dual Macy's experiment after the merger.

Stores

Anchor Stores:

★ Macy's (Galleria IV) ''(250,000 sq. ft., opened 2003 as Foley's, became Macy's in 2006)''

★ Macy's (Galleria III) ''(232,600 sq. ft., opened 1986, redubbed in 2006 as "Macy's at Sage")

★ Neiman Marcus ''(224,000 sq. ft., opened 1969)''

★ Nordstrom ''(226,000 sq. ft., opened 2003)''

★ Saks Fifth Avenue ''(185,532 sq. ft., opened 1979 as Marshall Field's, closed 1996 and reopened as Saks Fifth Avenue in 1997)''
The Galleria is home to many local upscale designers and boutiques, including Carroll Paris, De Gala, Velleriano Italy and many others.^[1] Surrounding the Galleria are other upscale shopping centers featuring similar stores and local fashion houses: Fashion Centre, Uptown Collection, Uptown Park and Highland Village. Collectively, these shopping centers make up what is known nationally and internationally as the "Galleria Shopping District"; officially, this area is known as the Uptown District.
The Galleria serves as the retail flagship for many retailers, and is the backbone for thousands of jobs and support services. For example, a small window cleaning company that calls itself GreenLight Services has staff in the mall each week, and cleans over 120 stores.
A recent boom of retail influx in the Galleria has sparked even greater tourism and a much greater interest of retailers and designers to purchase space in the shopping complex. Due to rising rental costs in the Galleria, the number and locations of stores is always changing. Currently, there are about 375.
The only non-anchor store in the Houston Galleria which has remained in its original location is the Houston Trunk Factory, located in the Galleria II expansion.
The Galleria also features a full-sized ice rink below a glass atrium which was originally added by Hines to increase the visibility of the stores in the lower level. ^[2] About 50 restaurants and specialty food stores at all prices and service points are located throughout the Galleria complex. Two Westin hotels are also located directly in the Galleria complex, The Westin Galleria and The Westin Oaks (prior to 1984, both hotels were known as the Galleria Plaza Hotel and Houston Oaks Hotel when Westin Hotels and Resorts was known as Western International Hotels).
The Galleria hosts over 24 million visitors a year.

References

1. Galleria Shopping Area
2. Chronicle Interview with Hines

External links

★ The Houston Galleria Official Website