Baybrook Mall Expansion

[Mab]

 

Baybrook Mall, already among the Houston area's most profitable per square foot, will become one of its physically largest as well, through a major expansion announced Monday that will give it about the same footprint as west Houston's Memorial City Mall. It would be surpassed in size only by the Galleria, a bona fide tourist destination that is known internationally.

The company that owns the indoor shopping complex off the Gulf Freeway in suburban Webster will add 555,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space and create a community lawn the length of a football field. The design features eight new buildings and outdoor-oriented "lifestyle areas" similar to those common to pedestrian-friendly town centers and becoming even popular at traditionally enclosed malls.

While many indoor retail centers are making adjustments merely to survive in the face of sweeping changes in Americans' social and shopping habits, Baybrook plans instead to build on recent success. In what was considered a coup two years ago, Baybrook was one of just two local malls to sign H&M, an iconic retailer appealing to teens and young women.

Mall owner General Growth Properties said in its announcement that it remains bullish on the hub south of Houston.

"Baybrook Mall is nearly 100 percent leased and is located in one of the nation's fastest-growing markets," executive vice president Richard Pesin said. "Retailers and restaurants are looking to add new locations in high-quality centers."

The project, set to be completed by the 2015 Christmas shopping season, would expand Baybrook by about 50 percent, to some 1.7 million square feet, leapfrogging the likes of The Woodlands and Willowbrook malls.

GGP said through a mall spokesman that the company also is positioning the 36-year-old Baybrook Mall as a more community-oriented, family-welcoming space, with not just 30-plus new stores but also a movie theater, 10 restaurants and an outdoor lawn the length of a football field intended to host family gatherings and special events.

The new design will allow customers to walk from store to store in an open-air environment and be connected by shaded walkways, the mall's marketing manager Colin Moussa said.

Jeff Green, a retail feasibility consultant based in Phoenix, applauded Baybrook's owners on the strategy. "They're combining the mall with the speciality center concept, and I think it's a great idea," said Green, president of Jeff Green Partners.

"The restaurant category is basically exploding," he added, "and it looks like they're really trying to set up a food and entertainment hub."

Scott Shillings, president of Riverway Retail, a retail tenant representative, agreed that Baybrook is a regional powerhouse. He said it is one of the entire area's top generators of sales per square feet.

"Baybrook Mall has a dominant position in the southeast corridor of the Houston area," he said.

GGP has added similar outdoor lifestyle areas at its First Colony, in Sugar Land, and Woodlands malls, he said. The company also owns Willowbrook and Deerbook malls, both well north of Beltway 8.

GGP declined to name any of the retailers expected to sign on in the expanded Baybrook space, but Moussa said they would include big-box anchor tenants.

The project is a joint venture between GGP and landowner CDC.

Existing Baybrook tenants include Dillard's, Forever 21, Lego, Coach and Michael Kors. After its expansion Baybrook will be the largest of GGP's five Houston-area malls.

Memorial City Mall underwent a big expansion and by 2003 grew to 1.7 million square feet, with the additions of Dillard's, JCPenney, Cinemark Memorial City, and other retail, said Steve Nisenson, director of marketing at MetroNational, developer and manager of Memorial City Mall.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/retail/article/Major-expansion-set-for-Baybrook-Mall-5345696.php?cmpid=btfpm

[towerjunkie]

absolutely amazing I cannot wait for this  to start especially since I visit daybook now and again!

 

 

[LTAWACS]

Awesome news! I usually go here on the weekends. Hopefully they'll sign a decent watch authorized dealer.

[cloud713]

that looks like a pretty nice set up.. should be successful.

[j_cuevas713]

Wow, the Clear Lake area has always been nice. Can't wait to see this happen.

[arche_757]

Good to see, but unfortunate that its in Baybrook and not located a little further south in League City.  Baybrook is a nightmare of traffic (like many large malls tend to be these days).  I'm guessing this area is populated enough for 1-2 more of these "pedestrian oriented" sort of shopping centers.  One down the way in League City and maybe one over by Kemah/Seabrook?

[Mab]

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2014/03/major-entertainment-venue-to-open-at-baybrook-mall.html

 

Dave and Buster is going to baybrook

[JLWM8609]

The expansion of Baybrook Mall is going to add 555,000 square feet of space, more than 30 retailers, 10 restaurants, and entertainment and hospitality venues.

 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/baybrook-mall-planning-multimillion-dollar-expansion/25161876

[Subdude]

Nb dupe topics merged.

 

[Slick Vik]

Wow, the Clear Lake area has always been nice. Can't wait to see this happen.

It hasn't been the same since the mass layoffs at nasa.

[arche_757]

^But that event is now over and done with.  Hopefully the can be some recoup of the aerospace community that has left/been forced out?  NASA seems to have a rather healthy budget again so perhaps?  Or rather - NASA's budget is healthier than it was.

 

League City/Dickinson/Friendswood/Kemah/Seabrook/Webster/others have been growing rapidly and the area really does need some more commerical activity.

[Subdude]

I'm glad to see Baybrook is doing so well.  I remember going in there around the 1980s bust and it was a ghost town sometimes.  The expansion is also a bit surprising.  We keep reading about how malls are declining, and yet some like this seem to have found the secret sauce to continue growing.

[arche_757]

Well, it really is the ONLY major shopping area for 350,000 people (give or take).  So it is obviously still quite viable.  That and League City/Clear Lake City/Friendswood etc are all pretty nice middle/upper income towns.  I've always been amazed that there isn't more high-end retail around Clear Lake itself.

[skwatra]

It hasn't been the same since the mass layoffs at nasa.

 

many of the shuttle folks found jobs on other nasa contracts in the area. clear lake is doing as well as ever. holding at ~3K civil servants and well over 10K contractors employed by JSC. i completely avoid baybrook and clear lake in general other than my commute because its so crowded. hopefully this expansion won't affect the through traffic on 45 too much...

 

[Houston19514]

many of the shuttle folks found jobs on other nasa contracts in the area. clear lake is doing as well as ever. holding at ~3K civil servants and well over 10K contractors employed by JSC. i completely avoid baybrook and clear lake in general other than my commute because its so crowded. hopefully this expansion won't affect the through traffic on 45 too much...

 

 

Those 13,000 or so jobs sound great until you consider that "n 2007, about 17,500 aerospace jobs were connected to NASA's space shuttle and Mars programs at the Johnson Space Center."

 

And from the same Feb., 2013 article:  "About 5,000 laid-off workers have used the Aerospace Transition Center since it opened in February 2010, said Veronica Reyes, manager for Workforce Solutions, which runs the center."

[skwatra]

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/people/index.html

"Johnson Space Center's 15,000 civil servants and contractors work within a structure of directorates reporting to the center director."

 

My point was, that its not that bad. Its a government program, its going to vary depending on the budget, congress, and presidency. ISS just got extended through 2024, our budget is not what we wanted but at least it hasn't gone down.

[Subdude]

Well, it really is the ONLY major shopping area for 350,000 people (give or take).  So it is obviously still quite viable.  That and League City/Clear Lake City/Friendswood etc are all pretty nice middle/upper income towns.  I've always been amazed that there isn't more high-end retail around Clear Lake itself.

 

True.  Almeda Mall and the former Mall of the Mainland were in no position to compete with Baybrook.  I would wager that Baybrook also draws shoppers from Galveston and much of the greater Rosharon-Alvin-Manvel-Pearland (RAMP) metroplex.  

[Dakota79]

I am surprised they don't want a hotel in the mix.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

I'm glad to see Baybrook is doing so well. I remember going in there around the 1980s bust and it was a ghost town sometimes. The expansion is also a bit surprising. We keep reading about how malls are declining, and yet some like this seem to have found the secret sauce to continue growing.

Baybrook Mall began getting its act together when Tanger Outlets moved down the road in Texas City. I had never seen an Almeda billboard/advertisment in the Texas City/Dickinson area until Tanger went up. These malls serve the same area. An amusement park was announced near Tanger, now Almeda is adding a Dave and Busters, plus 30 stores. The local news paper reported Tanger is expected to announce an expansion this summer.

Edited March 27, 2014 by J.A.S.O.N.

[IronTiger]

Baybrook Mall IS the definitive mall to the area. The Galvez Mall died with Mall of the Mainland arriving (which was never 100% occupied, even in the best days), the San Jacinto Mall never was in a growth area and began a downward spiral that started after the bust, and so on.

Pearland does have an outdoor mall, but admittedly, my cousin in law did end up going to Baybrook Mall, posted a lot of things about what she did there. So, yes, it does draw from Pearland.

I am surprised they don't want a hotel in the mix.

There's a building at the upper right that looks a lot like a hotel...

[Slick Vik]

 

Those 13,000 or so jobs sound great until you consider that "n 2007, about 17,500 aerospace jobs were connected to NASA's space shuttle and Mars programs at the Johnson Space Center."

 

And from the same Feb., 2013 article:  "About 5,000 laid-off workers have used the Aerospace Transition Center since it opened in February 2010, said Veronica Reyes, manager for Workforce Solutions, which runs the center."

 

Yes and this has kept the property values down in clear lake compared to other suburbs. In my parents neighborhood it's pretty much dead the people that moved there originally stayed but all the kids have moved to other cities or into the city of Houston.

[5o3x]

True.  Almeda Mall and the former Mall of the Mainland were in no position to compete with Baybrook.  I would wager that Baybrook also draws shoppers from Galveston and much of the greater Rosharon-Alvin-Manvel-Pearland (RAMP) metroplex.  

 

I know for a fact that it draws lots of shoppers from Pearland and Alvin.

[Slick Vik]

I know for a fact that it draws lots of shoppers from Pearland and Alvin.

Strange pearland town center is nicer

[IronTiger]

I thought D&B were slowly going away?

What made you think that? I mean, I don't have a lot of faith in what's left of Jillian's (which D&B largely bought) or GameWorks, but D&B, really?

[skwatra]

Looks like they (D&B ) are trying to go public:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/04/us-davebusters-ipo-idUSKBN0EF2DQ20140604

Edited June 11, 2014 by skwatra

[arche_757]

Well, to be brutally honest - Who the heck goes there any more?  D&B is a sports bar+video game+restaurant establishment.  Perhaps its popular for the just graduated college crowd?  I wouldn't know?  Been years since I've been to one.  Here's the big problem with D&B: if you want to drink and play video games you can do that much cheaper at home.  If you want to go to some place "cool" for drinks most cities have much nicer bars, if you want good food there are tons of restaurants that have better food.  D&B is like Blockbuster back in the early 2000s, still relevant, but for how long?

 

D&B has 71 stores.  Valued at ~500 million (when purchased by Oak Hill Capital in 2010), they had 1 IPO already and it crashed and burned so bad that they looked the fool.  Who on earth would really buy stock in D&B?

[skwatra]

I'm with you Arche. I went once in undergrad (st louis) for a bday or something. The only thing I know of now where people go (i'm in my 30's) is for corporate events. But that doesn't seem like it could sustain their business.

[IronTiger]

Here's the big problem with D&B: if you want to drink and play video games you can do that much cheaper at home.

Well, D&B has different games than what you find on your Xbox or PlayStation...besides, the argument is kind of flawed because it's a bit like saying "You can get beer and wine cheaper at the supermarket, therefore there's no reason to go to bars and spend more money"

[mollusk]

How I feel about Dave & Busters:

 

Edited June 11, 2014 by mollusk

[arche_757]

My logic wasn't flawed.  Would you say the average American spends more of their income getting beer/wine/liquor from liquor stores/grocers or at restaurants and bars?

 

People go to bars and restaurants because they're either socializing with people they know, to meet new people, or to avoid cooking.  D&B offers those options, but they are hardly the best place to go for any of those.

 

You enjoy D&B - great - that's fine.  Personally I would rather spend my time and money elsewhere.  I can think of pretty much everyone I know who would go to a bar or restaurant without question if they wanted to go out.  I cannot think of one of them that would ever offer up the "lets go to Dave and Busters..."