Houston Galleria Getting Upgrade

DALLAS — The Houston Galleria is about to get a major upgrade. Owner Simon Property Group is investing $250 million to give two wings a modern look and to erect a bigger Saks Fifth Avenue, according to Rick Sokolov, president and chief operating officer. Anchored by Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom and Macy’s, the Galleria features about 400 stores in 1.9 million square feet and generates more than $1 billion in annual sales. It attracts 30 million visitors a year, about a third of them tourists, Sokolov said. The renovation of the Neiman’s and Saks wings was prompted by the center’s growing roster of designer tenants, he explained. The River Oaks District luxury shopping center opening this fall just across the interstate freeway might have provided some motivation, too. Opening at the Galleria this year are The Webster, La Perla, Tod’s, Tourbillon, John Varvatos, Trina Turk and Hublot, Sokolov noted. “We have renewed commitments from a number of our other major designer tenants like Chanel, Gucci, Bulgari, Versace, [Carolina] Herrera, [David] Yurman and Tory Burch,” Sokolov pointed out, “and we felt we could make our physical plan even better to reflect the quality of the tenants.” The new look in the common areas of Galleria I and

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