Greenspoint Mall will officially close its doors to tenants at the end of the day on Wednesday, marking the end of an era for the iconic, struggling mall.
Part of the area’s expansive campus will be transformed into a new apartment complex called Summit at Renaissance Park, developed by the Zieben Group. It will replace a vacant Sears Auto Center. In 2021, the City of Houston approved a $15 million loan to help fund the 325-unit “affordable workforce” development as part of the Hurricane Harvey Multifamily Program.
The upcoming development is part of a revitalization project funded by the city’s Harvey recovery program. It will consist of a four-story housing project with retail space on the ground floor. The rent for the 325 units will be based on the size and income of the households, making it affordable for low-income families. According to the Houston Chronicle, all 325 units will be reserved for low-income families for a period of four decades.
The mall, located at the northeast corner of I-45 and Sam Houston Parkway, brought joy to generations of Houstonians. It first opened in 1976 and was anchored by department store giants Sears, Palais-Royal, and Foley’s. At one point, it was the largest mall in Houston until the Galleria mall surpassed it with multiple expansions in the late 1980s and early 2000s.
During the 2020s, the mall struggled as many anchor stores either went out of business or relocated to newer malls. A few stores remained, with Premiere Cinemas as the main anchor, until they closed permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The mall then announced its permanent closure on June 30. Tenants were informed by the mall’s leasing firm, Triyar Management, Inc., that they had until July 31 to remove any personal property from the premises.
Some retail stores are moving to nearby CityNorth, located across the street, according to a report by KPRC 2.
