Champion's Forest Plaza: A Redevelopment Swan Song

A Houston developer, out to capture an elite mix of retailers, has found the key to success for a redeveloped shopping center in the world of soft goods suppliers.

The 130,000-sf Champions Forest Plaza has just signed Gap as a tenant. The national retailer, which will bring along a Gap Kids store, will begin construction on 10,250 sf next month, shooting for a January delivery. Meanwhile, a 5,500-sf Victoria’s Secret will come to market next month along with a 5,000-sf Ann Taylor. The retailers are joining a lineup that includes a 2,500-sf The Right Start, an infant and toddlers’ chain based in CA, that has selected the upscale retail complex for its first TX store. By year’s end, the chain will have four stores in Houston with plans afoot to open others in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, says Jim Smith Jr., a broker with Boyd Page/ChainLinks and son of Champions Forest Plaza owner, Jim R. Smith & Co.

The 21-year-old Champions Forest Plaza has turned itself around from a traditional retail site to one that is attracting a high-end mix found only at three other sites in Houston, says the elder Smith. “But nobody in Houston has this collection plus a Container Store,” he emphasizes. First, came a near $8 million makeover, excluding the $125 to $150 per sf that the complex’s retailers are putting up to build out their stores, says Smith. His coup was the signing of the Container Store, Houston’s second, for 23,000 sf. One of the few hard goods suppliers in the center, the Container Store holds the anchor spot, opening in mid-June and marking its second location in Houston.