Willowbrook Mall (Houston, Texas)

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Willowbrook Mall


caption =
location = Houston, Texas, USA
opening_date = 1981
developer = Homart Development Company
manager = General Growth Properties
owner = General Growth Properties
number_of_stores = 160
number_of_anchors = 5
floor_area = 1,530,000 ft²
floors = 1
parking = 8,900 spaces
website = [http://www.shopwillowbrookmall.com www.shopwillowbrookmall.com]

Willowbrook Mall is a 1.53-million-square-foot regional shopping mall located at the intersection of State Highway 249 and FM 1960 in northwest Houston, Texas. The enclosed, single-level mall currently houses 160 retail stores and is anchored by Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, Macy's Men's & Furniture, and Sears. The mall, owned by General Growth Properties, is among the largest five Houston-area retail developments based on net rentable area, ranking third in 2000, [ [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2000/11/27/list.html Largest Area Shopping Centers And Malls] "Houston Business Journal", November 24, 2000.] and is considered a major retailing center of northwest Houston. [ [http://www.westhouston.org/data.htm West Houston Demographic and Development Information] West Houston Association] The mall targets 954,920 residents in the northwestern Greater Houston region, which is projected to increase to 1,104,755 residents within 5 years. [ [http://www.ggp.com/Properties/demoinfo.asp?smuid=626 Willowbrook Mall demographic information] General Growth Properties]

History

The mall opened in 1981, during the rapid growth phase of northwest Houston during the early 1980s, with anchors Foley's, Joske's, Montgomery Ward, and Sears. The final two anchor locations were developed when Macy's opened a new store in 1984 and JCPenney added a new store in 1992.

Homart Development Co., a unit of Sears, Roebuck and Co., sold the mall to a group of investors in 1990. [ [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1990_748774 Willowbrook Mall in new hands/Investment group's deal valued at over $125 million] , "Houston Chronicle", December 4, 1990.] The mall underwent extensive remodeling in 1992.

The Joske's chain was bought by Dillard's in 1987. After opening a larger location in 1997 that was originally occupied by Macy's, Dillard's planned to operate its original Joske's location featuring a men's department and housewares and stock the usual merchandise in the space formerly occupied by Macy's. But Dillard's abandoned plans to operate two stores at the mall in 1998 and sold the original Joske's store to Lord & Taylor, [ [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1998/03/09/newscolumn2.html Department store chains play retail roulette in Willowbrook] "Houston Business Journal", March 6, 1998.] who opened its new 122,212-square-foot store later the same year. As part of May Department Stores' reconfiguration of Lord & Taylor in January 2003, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would close all Houston-area stores, including its five-year-old Willowbrook Mall location. The store closed in January 2004, and the location is now being demolished as part of a new project.cite web | publisher="Houston Business Journal"| title=Willowbrook Lord & Taylor faces wrecking ball| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/10/23/daily16.html?jst=s_cn_hl| date=October 23, 2006 | accessdate=2 December | accessyear=2006]

Montgomery Ward closed in March 2001 after the 128-year-old company went out of business. The store was taken over by Foley's in 2003 for a second location specializing in menswear and a furniture gallery. In 2006, the two Foley's stores became Macy's as part of Federated Department Stores' conversion of multiple store names into the Macy's name following its acquisition of May.

The mall was bought by General Growth Properties in 2001 from a pension fund managed by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. The 1.5-million-square-foot mall was cited as "one of the most successful retail shopping malls in Houston, consistently ranking near the Galleria, Memorial City Mall and Baybrook Mall as one of the area's top-grossing malls per square foot," producing "...sales of about $430 per square foot." [ [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2001/04/02/story3.html Popular mall sells for $145 million] "Houston Business Journal", March 30, 2001.] Dillards completed a renovation of its Willowbrook store the same year, expanding the anchor space by 50 percent.

Anchor stores

*Dillard's (opened 1984 as Macy's, became Dillard's 1997, 268,596 sq. ft.)
*JCPenney (opened 1992, 146,126 sq. ft.)
*Macy's (opened 1981 as Foley's, became Macy's 2006, 238,729 sq. ft.)
*Macy's Men's & Furniture (opened 1981 as Montgomery Ward, became Foley's Men's/Home 2003, became Macy's Men's/Home 2006, 156,258 sq. ft.)
*Sears (opened 1981, 174,663 sq. ft.)
*"Vacant" (opened 1981 as Joske's, became Dillard's 1987, became Lord & Taylor 1998, closed 2004, demolished for redevelopment 2006, 122,212 sq. ft.)cite web | publisher="Houston Business Journal"| title=Willowbrook Lord & Taylor faces wrecking ball| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/10/23/daily16.html?jst=s_cn_hl| date=October 23, 2006 | accessdate=2 December | accessyear=2006]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.shopwillowbrookmall.com Willowbrook Mall] Official website
* [http://www.ggp.com General Growth Properties] Official website
** [http://www.ggp.com/content/live/aerialpdf/Willowbrook%20Mall%20(TX)_aerial.pdf Aerial photo of Willowbrook Mall] (PDF)
** [http://www.ggp.com/content/live/data/PDF/635-SP1.pdf Willowbrook Mall site plan] (PDF)