Featured Apartment:
Houston - Galleria - Located in a
lush oasis from the concrete jungle of Houston are these Galleria apartments.
Like a private garden the landscaped courtyards and two pools allow for a
peaceful setting.
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Renting an Apartment in Galleria
The Galleria is an upscale mixed-use urban development centrally located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, one of the largest business districts in the country, just outside the city's I-610 inner beltway. The shopping complex sits at one of the busiest road intersections in the country, Post Oak Boulevard at Westheimer Road. The Galleria consists of three office towers, two Westin hotels, and a private health club. Houston's Galleria was the original, in the sense that it was the first mall to combine an indoor shopping center with hotels and/or office towers. It is the largest mall in Texas.The idea of an indoor shopping center with a hotel was envisioned in the 1950s by oilman Glenn H. McCarthy where a second phase was to include a shopping center with the Shamrock Hotel; this concept was scrapped right after the Hilton Hotel franchise took over the Shamrock in 1955. Glenn H. McCarthy's abandoned concept would influence Gerald Hines in the late 1960s.
Over the years, it became evident that there was no master plan for expansion
of the mall due to the lack of space. The planning requires shoppers to walk
through the Saks Fifth Avenue (formerly Marshall Field's) store (or through a
promenade on the street level) either on the street and second levels to access
Galleria III and Macy's. As a result the foot traffic in Galleria III is
drastically less than other parts of the mall and it has struggled to maintain
tenants.
Federated Department Stores plans to close the current Macy's store once its
takeover of May Department Stores becomes final in 2006 and Foley's is renamed
to Macy's. A plan is being considered to convert the Macy's space into luxury
apartments. The Galleria is now the fourth-largest shopping complex in the
United States.
A recent boom of retail influx in the Galleria has sparked even greater tourism
and a much greater interest of retailers and designers to purchase space in the
shopping complex. Due to rising rental costs in the Galleria, the number and
locations of stores is always changing. Currently, there are about 375.
The only store in the Houston Galleria which has remained in its original
location is the Houston Trunk Factory, located in the Galleria II expansion.