The ice rink inside the Galleria in Houston

The Galleria made Uptown Houston a second downtown

ByMarcus Tolliver

Photo: زرشک, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

When Gerald Hines opened the Galleria in 1970, Westheimer Road and Post Oak Boulevard were on the edge of Houston’s growth. Hines modeled it on the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, with shops along a long, glass-roofed corridor, and he put an ice skating rink in the middle, an odd and memorable choice in a subtropical city.

The mall was anchored by Neiman Marcus and included a hotel and office tower. It expanded several times and is now the largest shopping center in Texas, with hundreds of stores. Simon Property Group owns it.

Uptown

The Galleria helped create the Uptown district around it, with office towers, hotels and apartments. Hines also built the Transco Tower in 1983, now Williams Tower, which remains one of the tallest buildings outside a downtown in the country.

The Uptown Houston District, a management district, has invested in the area, including a dedicated bus lane on Post Oak Boulevard and the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park.

Retail changes

Malls across the country have struggled with online shopping and the loss of department stores. The Galleria has fared better than most, filling space with luxury brands, restaurants and entertainment. International shoppers, especially from Mexico and Latin America, have been a key part of its customer base.

Traffic remains the area’s biggest complaint, especially during the holiday shopping season, when crowds and cars spill onto nearby streets.

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