HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Brookfield Properties is planning a multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the downtown retail mall at Houston Center to attract visitors during evenings and weekends rather than serving primarily as a weekday food court for neighboring office towers.
The retail center will be renamed The Highlight, replacing the former name The Shops at Houston Center.
The 196,000-square-foot, multi-level property at 1201 McKinney Street will be reconfigured as a mixed-use destination featuring restaurants, retail and entertainment.
Gensler has been engaged as the project’s architect. The firm’s primary task is to soften the building’s current fortress-like exterior—characterized by multi-story brick walls that fail to clearly signal the presence of dining and shopping inside—and create a more inviting street presence.
Gensler’s design includes a multi-level glass addition that will create a new entrance on the side of the building nearest Discovery Green park and within a few blocks of the city’s convention center. The glass extension, combined with open-air dining on upper levels, is intended to strengthen the center’s retail and culinary identity and draw visitors from surrounding activity hubs.
“We are trying to coax visitors,” said Dean Strombom, a principal at Gensler Houston. He explained that the design emphasizes visibility and approachability so people understand that restaurants and shops are inside.
Planned tenant concepts include experiential and lifestyle retail—such as an upscale golf putting venue with food and beverage offerings—alongside expanded dining and entertainment options designed to extend foot traffic into nights and weekends.
“The Highlight builds upon the successful Phase One of the Houston Center master plan by prioritizing the user experience with upgraded tenant offerings,” Strombom said. “Following key design principles that put people at the center, we can continue to set the stage for more healthy and vibrant communities.”
Harvey Builders will manage the construction work, which is scheduled to begin in December.
Brookfield Properties has recently completed extensive renovations across Houston Center’s office properties as part of broader upgrades to its downtown portfolio. The Houston Center campus includes LyondellBasell Tower, 2 Houston Center, Fulbright Tower, 4 Houston Center and The Highlight at Houston Center.
In recent months the company has also completed renovations at its Allen Center, Heritage Plaza and Total Plaza campuses, and converted the former DoubleTree hotel at 400 Dallas Street into the C. Baldwin Hotel, a property in Hilton’s Curio Collection.
Dec. 5, 2021 Realty News Report. Copyright 2021.
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File: Downtown Mall Getting Redo
Image: Courtesy Brookfield Properties