Owner MetroNational announced Thursday it had hired Trademark Property Co. to create a 50-year master plan to re-envision the 1.7-million-square-foot mall. The Fort Worth-based company is tasked with reimagining the former Sears store on the south side of the mall, as well as developing plans for additional public spaces and mixed-use tenants to complement the 265-acre Memorial City campus in west Houston.
“We will be working closely with the Johnson family and other stakeholders in the community over the next 12 months to develop an actionable plan for taking Memorial City Mall to the next level,” Tommy Miller, Trademark’s chief investment officer, said in a statement. “This strategic property is poised to enhance its position as the market dominant shopping destination in west Houston for many decades to come.”
Plans for the mall’s redevelopment comes a little more than six months after Sears shuttered its Memorial City location as part of the struggling retailer’s ongoing efforts to streamline its operations. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, was one of the first tenants in the Memorial City shopping center when it opened in 1966. The Sears, which closed in late October, left a 209,000-square-foot vacancy at the mall.
Trademark Property, which developed Market Street in The Woodlands and is overseeing Rice Village, has developed or redeveloped 14.7 million square feet of retail and mixed-use projects worth $2.5 billion.
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