Mark Anawaty, executive vice president of Midway Holdings Inc. tells GlobeSt.com that it's a land deal, with the 35 acres now being primed for a mixed-use, lifestyle development for the Memorial Drive area of Houston." The concept will include retail, residential and restaurant uses.
Midway bought the West Houston asset from Yazd Corp., led by Bob Yazdani of Houston. The price is being closely guarded, but it sold two years to Yazdani for $5 million.
Anawaty says Neiman Marcus renegotiated a long-term lease for its anchor space while the remaining tenants were asked to move to make way for the redevelopment into an upscale development. He says most of the mall has a date with a wrecking ball, but the three parking garages, with 4,500 spaces, will stay.
Anawaty says the deal started working last fall in a non-competitive screening that included other would-be buyers. "When the opportunity presented itself to take advantage of a 35-acre land play in the heart of Houston's westward growth, we could not let that chance slip by," he says.
Richard Zigler, research director for O'Connor & Associates of Houston says "usually failing malls are not in great locations like this." The mall's stumbling block is accessibility although it sits in the middle of affluent neighborhoods. "It is easy to get to if you know where you are going," he says. The property is situated at the intersection of the Sam Houston Tollway and the Katy Freeway.
George Cushing, a senior vice president in retail investment for Grubb & Ellis Co., believes the optimal land use is a mix of residential and retail. The local exec says he'd be surprised if the retail would end up the heavyweight in the plan.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
