Retrofit Atlas

Malls · Texas

Saks Fifth Avenue Center of Fashion

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedRetrofit builtHouston, TX

Opened 1974 as Saks-anchored mall, lost anchor, demolished 2012, now part of Wulfe & Co.'s BLVD Place mixed-use development. · summary, model-written

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Saks Fifth Avenue Center of Fashion
Exterior view of a former shopping center with visible signage and parking lot. · verified by a vision model. Photo: WhisperToMe, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile17 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Finance and pipeline
On FacebookThis site: …https://www.facebook.com/1217735528090844 overture · all sites with this
Place
15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)This site: 6/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this
3+ other atlas sites within 10 kmThis site: 11 within 10 km computed · all sites with this
30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent roadThis site: 223,325 on 610 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
County permitting 2,000+ apartment units a yearThis site: 8,623 units, Harris County census-bps · all sites with this
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 3 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
High hurricane riskThis site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this
High inland flooding riskThis site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this
High tornado riskThis site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this
High-income tract ($100k+)This site: $133,456 census-acs · all sites with this
Interstate or freeway within 600 mThis site: 610 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
Renter-majority tractThis site: 86% census-acs · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: BLVD Place 6 extraction · all sites with this
New use
HotelThis site: …id- and high-rise residential units, and a 225-room upscale hotel, all together 375,000 sq ft (34,800 m2) in area. extraction · all sites with this
HousingThis site: …in upscale retail shops and restaurants, mid- and high-rise residential units, and a 225-room upscale hotel, all together 375,000 s extraction · all sites with this
Mixed useThis site: BLVD Place 6 to make way for BLVD Place, a denser mixed-use development planned to contain upscale retail shops and res extraction · all sites with this
Retail (continued)This site: , a denser mixed-use development planned to contain upscale retail shops and restaurants, mid- and high-rise residential units extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusRetrofit builtextracted, unreviewed
StrategyRedevelopedextracted, unreviewed
New usesretail, housing, hotelextracted, unreviewed
What is there nowBLVD Place 6extracted, unreviewed
Retrofit year2012extracted, unreviewed
RedeveloperWulfe & Co.extracted, unreviewed

Planning

Planning notesto make way for BLVD Place, a denser mixed-use development planned to contain upscale retail shops and restaurants, mid- and high-rise residential units, and a 225-room upscale hotel, all together 375,000 sq ft (34,800 m2) in area.extracted, unreviewed

Site context

FEMA flood zoneX · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m22: APACHE CORPORATION; APACHE CORPORATION WEST CAMERON 65; APACHE DEEPWATER LLC; BP EXPLORATION INC; DENTON COUNTY MUD 5 MS4EPA FRS
Census tract 482014318042,306 people, 5,529 per sq mi; median household income $133,456; median gross rent $2,328; 86% renters; 27.5% vacant units; 0.0% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)6 of 6 daily needs: 3 grocers, 1 schools, 19 parks or playgrounds, 6 health, 4 civic, 43 food and drink; 3 cycleway segments, 185 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity ZonenoHUD
Housing permits, Harris County (TX), 20248,623 units in 5+ unit buildings, 1,226 in 2–4, 20,087 single-family; 2023: 13,263 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.40; socioeconomic 0.39; housing and transport 0.77; 13% below 150% of poverty; 3% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby11 within 10 km, 19 within 25 km: Blair House (5.2 km); River Oaks Shopping Center (5.2 km); Northwest Mall (5.8 km); Sharpstown Mall (6.7 km); Westwood Mall (6.8 km)computed
Overture Mapsplace 台北旗艦店 (shopping, confidence 0.13, from Overture, meta); building footprint 13,916 m², 24.0 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and socialno website listed · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views3,924 since 2015; 1,268 in the last 12 months (+1% vs the prior 12); peak 2026-01 with 188Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023tract boundary changed between the 2010 and 2020 census; no 2013 comparisonCensus ACS
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)relatively moderate overall (score 78.5); expected annual loss $3.1M; high: hurricane, tornado, inland flooding; community resilience very lowFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 kmnoneHUD LIHTC
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)not a low-access tract at 1 mile; poverty rate 7.8%; median family income $146,360; 17 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
SchoolsHouston Independent School District (PK-12); 2 public schools within 1 mile: TANGLEWOOD MIDDLE; MANDARIN IMMERSION MAGNET SCHOOLNCES EDGE
Elevation59 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 202313,613 establishments (+8%); 213,745 jobs (+11%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $276,524 (-2% 1 yr, +11% 5 yr); typical rent $1,583/mo (-0% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)223,325 vehicles a day on 610 (Interstate, 8 lanes); 8,566 trucks; 17 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Opened in 1974 as a mall anchored by a large Saks Fifth Avenue store, the site lost its anchor when Saks closed in 1997. The mall struggled thereafter, continued operating until the former Saks store was demolished in 2007, and the entire property was cleared and redeveloped by 2012 into the BLVD Place mixed-use project.

Why. The primary cause visible in the record is the loss of the Saks anchor, which undermined the mall’s viability and led Wulfe & Co. to pursue a redevelopment strategy. Demolition plans were announced in 2005 and completed in 2012 to make way for a denser mixed-use development.

Where it stands. The site is now part of the BLVD Place mixed-use development, controlled by Wulfe & Co., the developer listed in the record.

For a planner

  • Precedent: BLVD Place demonstrates a successful retrofit of a former mall into a denser mixed-use project with retail, housing, and hotel components.
  • Policy tools used: The record shows a 'redevelop' strategy and planning notes approving a mixed-use build‑out of 375,000 sq ft.
  • Open questions: Whether any additional zoning changes, infrastructure upgrades, or affordable‑housing provisions were required is not stated.
  • How the new development integrates with the surrounding Uptown Houston street grid and transit network is unspecified.

For a developer

  • Site size: The planned BLVD Place totals approximately 375,000 sq ft (34,800 m²), indicating the scale of the redeveloped parcel.
  • Control: Wulfe & Co. is the developer and appears to control the parcel post‑retrofit.
  • Entitlement stage: Status is 'built' with a year_retrofit of 2012, suggesting entitlements and approvals are complete.
  • Constraints: No flood, transit, or environmental context layers are provided in the record, so any such constraints are unknown.
  • Market signals: Opportunity score is 0.0, with reasons noting the retrofit is already built, modest county growth (3.4% 2018‑23), and existing housing in the area.

What we do not know yet

  • Exact parcel acreage or dimensions are not specified.
  • Current ownership details beyond the developer Wulfe & Co. are not given.
  • Environmental, flood, or transit constraints are absent from the record.
  • Financial details, such as project costs or funding sources, are missing.
  • The record is marked as 'verified: draft', indicating some fields may be model‑extracted and unreviewed.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

  • Six Flags Mall, Arlington, TX · Malls · opened 1970; closed 2016; same strategy: redevelop
  • Highland Mall, Austin, TX · Malls · opened 1971; closed 2015; same strategy: redevelop
  • Laurel Mall, Laurel, MD · Malls · opened 1979; closed 2012; same strategy: redevelop
  • Cloverleaf Mall, Richmond, VA · Malls · opened 1972; closed 2008; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • county grew 3.4% 2018–23
  • housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened1974Wikidata
Closed2012Wikidata
Original developerGimbel Bros.extracted, unreviewed
AnchorsSaks Fifth Avenue
CountyHarris County
Census division7 · West South Central
NotesWikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Saks Fifth Avenue Center of Fashion, later Pavilion Saks Fifth Avenue, then Pavilion at Post Oak, was a shopping center in Uptown Houston open from 1974 through 2007, originally centered around a large 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) Saks Fifth Avenue store which closed in 1997. The mall struggled after losing Saks, but continued to operate for ten more years, and finally closed in 2007. The Pavilion mall was demolished and the site is now part of the BLVD Place mixed-use development.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1974 Opened (Wikidata)
  2. 1974 Opened
  3. 1977 Sold to Investcorp
  4. 1993 Landmark Cinemas took over cinema multiplex
  5. 1995 Theater closed
  6. 1996 Renamed to Pavilion at Post Oak
  7. 1997 Saks store closed
  8. 1998 Fashion At The Pavilion closed
  9. 2005 Wulfe & Co. announced demolition plans
  10. 2007 Former Saks store torn down
  11. 2012 Closed (Wikidata)
  12. 2012 Demolition complete

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Saks Fifth Avenue Center of Fashion · supports: after notes, original developer, status, strategy
    14 quoted sentences
    then-owners Gimbel Bros. had decided
    The site is now occupied by 'BLVD Place 6'
    The site is now occupied by 'BLVD Place 6'
    The Pavilion mall was demolished and the site is now part of the BLVD Place mixed-use development

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