Tag: Malls

Malls
04/18/08 9:18am

Where To Order a Relief Pitcher: Rocket Goes Off at Memorial City

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Memorial City, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
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Opening in two weeks: A 15,000-square-foot generic sports bar in Memorial City Mall. Hey, wasn’t that supposed to be the Rocket Sports Grill?

Allison Wollam reports in the Houston Business Journal that Roger Clemens’s plans for a burger empire appear to have been scuttled:

. . . all traces of the seven-time Cy-Young award winner have been erased from the would-be restaurant site.

Just one month ago, construction workers were busy erecting a large red “Rocket” sign at the entrance of the restaurant, while Clemens’ baseball jerseys from the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and The University of Texas Longhorns hung in the entry.

As of this week, the Clemens memorabilia had been removed. The restaurant — which is still under construction — now houses wide-screen televisions, NASCAR video games and a variety of non-Clemens’ related baseball memorabilia.

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Alief
04/17/08 10:08pm

West Oaks Mall Bankruptcy Sale: JCPenneys on the Dollar

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Crime, Financing, Fraud, Malls
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An update on the 1031-exchange debacle surrounding the West Oaks Mall: In March, the mysterious Edward Okun — the mall’s owner — was indicted by a Virginia grand jury on charges of mail fraud, for misappropriating $132 million invested in his 1031 exchange company, 1031 Tax Group — along with bulk cash smuggling and related charges. Days later, Okun was arrested in his home on Hibiscus Island in Miami Beach.

To the 340 investors who had trusted $150 million of their 1031-exchange funds to supposedly-qualified intermediaries controlled by Okun, this was good news. But it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get their money back — or find a way around the huge tax liability now associated with their failed exchanges.

The 1031-exchange investors in Okun’s 1031 Tax Group had hoped to recoup some of their missing funds by raiding Okun’s other assets — including the West Oaks Mall. But the Okun-controlled companies that owned the mall declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.

Today, the Costar Group reports that the freestanding building formerly known as JCPenney at the West Oaks Mall has been put up for sale, along with a mall in Salina, Kansas. The trustee in the bankruptcy case has hired Keen Realty, the new real estate division of KPMG Corporate Finance, to market both properties.

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Commercial Real Estate
03/31/08 5:46pm

Logos and Lines: Cypress Outlet Mall Reader Reports

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Malls, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Parking, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Houston Premium Outlets, Cypress, TX

Reader photos and reports from the Houston Premium Outlets opening on 290 last weekend:

I had heard somewhere that the mall was supposed to have a Southwest theme, but with all the logos plastered over the entrance towers, it looks like they might have been aiming for Early NASCAR. Aside from that, though, it’s a surprisingly nice place. Yeah, there were lots of people there, but once you get out of your car, the mall handles crowds well. It’s much nicer than a lot of Houston non-outlet malls, and a whole lot less cheesy or pretentious.

After the jump: those logo-festooned towers and more on-the-spot pix! Plus: Chicken Now: Here. Now!

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Commercial Real Estate
03/27/08 6:38pm

Outlet Mall Grand Opening: Cypress Will Never Be the Same

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Cypress, Malls, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Drawing of Houston Premium Outlets in Cypress, TexasIf the popularity of our story earlier this week about the Houston Premium Outlets is any guide, the new outlet mall off 290 in Cypress ought to be absolutely swamped this weekend. And hey — we didn’t have much to say about it, other than to report that the mall opens today. (And no, Swamplot isn’t offering any discounts, either.)

Evidently, a lot of people want to find out about this place.

So if you do decide to brave the crowds this weekend and have a look around yourself, feel free to send us your reports, videos, or photos — so we can share them with the Googling hordes online.

Drawing of Houston Premium Outlets: Chelsea Premium Outlets

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Commercial Real Estate
03/25/08 7:12pm

Houston Premium Outlets: The New Outlet Mall in Cypress

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Cypress, Fairfield, Malls, New Construction, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers
4 Comments

Houston Premium Outlets, Cypress, Texas

Update: On-the-spot reader reports!

Fairfield residents: You picked the right location! Just outside your neighborhood’s front gates, a huge new outlet mall is scheduled to open . . . in just two days!

What’s going to be there? The Ecko Unltd. outlet store! The Juicy Couture outlet store! The Under Armour outlet store! Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom! And Chicken Now! They’re all opening this Thursday, March 27th!

Well . . . almost. As a commenter on HAIF points out, you’ll apparently have to wait for Chicken Now, which on the Houston Premium Outlets website is listed only as “opening soon.” The site indicates 100 stores in the 427,000-square-foot outdoorish highwayside complex will be ready for this weekend’s grand opening. 13 more are slated to open later.

After the jump: you’ll look askance at the plans!

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Commercial Real Estate
02/28/08 10:26am

Newest and Tallest: The Texas Medical Center Goes Condo

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Condos, Highrises, Hotels, Malls, Medical Buildings, Proposed Developments, Southgate, Texas Medical Center
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Here’s what we know so far about the new 40-story hotel-and-condo tower Medistar Corporation is planning for the corner of Main St. and Dryden, between Rice’s new Collaborative Research Center and the Baylor Clinic on the west side of Main: not a whole lot.

But at 40 stories, the new building would likely be the tallest tower in the Texas Medical Center. (The new Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza is only 31.) That’s taller than those twin hypodermics, too.

A lot-line variance for the project is item number 111 before the Planning Commission this afternoon. And the request provides a few clues. Medistar wants the same 10-foot setback along Main St. that the Baylor Clinic has, so the new building can have a similar passenger dropoff and a “pedestrian friendly” entry on that side. The building’s longer axis will be perpendicular to Main. The arguments imply Medistar intends to have “ornamental decorations and balconies” on the Main St. side, and that the tower will be linked by skybridge to the Medical Center main campus across the street.

According to the Southgate Neighborhood Newsletter, the tower will include a 1200-car parking facility.

This isn’t the only new building type Medistar is planning to stir into the Medical Center mix. A block down the street, just south of the company’s Best Western Hotel at 6700 Main St., Medistar is planning a 600,000-sq.-ft. medical mall. The Houston Business Journal reported on that project late last month:

The high-rise would house offices and showrooms for companies that sell equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals to Texas Medical Center institutions. Tenants could also include organizations working to develop new medical technologies and treatments.

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Alief
10/16/07 8:03am

West Oaks Mall: Your Exchanges Are No Good Here

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Financing, Foreclosures, Fraud, Malls
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Food Court at the West Oaks Mall, Houston, Texas

So much excitement at the West Oaks Mall! Don’t worry, it likely won’t be foreclosed on—because the owners of the super-regional mall at Westheimer and Highway 6 have now declared bankruptcy. This is bad news for about 340 investors who were hoping to recoup 1031-exchange funds that went missing in the middle of their transactions. They’ll likely lose more than $150 million dollars . . . and possibly be required to pay taxes on the gains they made (and were hoping to shield with the 1031 exchange) . . . before they lost them.

Their money was to be held in escrow accounts for when they came back to conclude the back-end purchase of their tax-free exchange. When that time came, the money was gone.

Now, one of the largest of those assets that creditors had hoped could be used to recoup some of their money is untouchable.

IPofA West Oaks Mall LP, IPofA West Oaks LeaseCo LP and IPofA WOM Master LeaseCo LP (collectively, the “West Oaks Debtors”), filed voluntary petitions under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, last week.

The West Oaks Debtors are directly and/or indirectly owned and/or controlled by Edward H. Okun, a controversial investor who also controls several 1031 qualified intermediaries under the umbrella firm of The 1031 Tax Group LLC that are also currently tied up in bankruptcy proceedings.

Shopping’s still good, though!

1031 exchange investors: watch where your money goes.

Photo: West Oaks Mall

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Malls
05/14/07 11:35am

Pearland’s New Drive-Thru Mall

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New Construction, Pearland, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Pearland Town Center Street View

Pearlanders excited about the Dillards, Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, and other typical mall fare that will become available to them when the new Pearland Town Center opens next summer will likely find even more excitement when they learn they’ll be able to drive right up to their favorite stores!

And no, it won’t be a Big Box center. (At least . . . not at first.) It’ll be just like a mall, except it’ll be open-air. It’ll be just like an outlet mall, except the streets will be tighter and more “urban.” It’ll be just like a downtown shopping district, except . . . it’ll be surrounded by a sea of parking!

And just what premium will shoppers be willing to pay for the chance they might be able to grab one of the few head-in spaces right in front of the Great American Cookie Co.? Once they’re in the outer parking areas, will they take a chance and wait patiently in traffic for the possibility there might just be a head-in space available there, or maybe in front of Victoria’s Secret?

Or . . . will all those premium close-in spaces go valet?

How much of a traffic backup will this new mall design cause? More on that, plus more artist renderings of the new mall, after the jump.

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