West Oaks Mall bankrupt and to be auctioned off... good riddance! (Houston: for sale, safe area)

[HookTheBrotherUp]

West Oaks Mall up for sale | Katy News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

I started a thread recently about the Galleria Mall going ghetto, and now I post this one. The difference here is I have no amusing stories, only to let people know that this mall is up for auction. I also want to poll people to know what they think should be done with the property. More on that later...

I have not been in this mall in a long time, maybe a year or more, even back then it was a totally shtty mall, full of those burro cart stores, always a sign a mall is needing cash, else no one would allow that garbage to litter the place. As I mentioned with the Galleria, the thug factor at West Oaks was pretty high, and my guess it still is. Can anyone who's been there recently comment on that factor?

I recall the mall when it first opened, it was new to the West side, it was great, and I even remember lots of people going there to take pictures with Santa during the holidays; it was really fun. Last time I was there I noticed that the 'Santa' area was no longer there, and that they had remodeled the mall. In fact, you had to step down in that area, I saw they filled that area in.

The new remodeling tried to add elegance to the walls and the result was that all the facades appeared too bulky for the amount of space. This really gave the mall a crowded feel, and adding those burro carts meant that you could not walk around the place without running into people, or the carts, it did not have an open feel that malls typically have. All the good stores were gone and replaced with cheap stores, many were even vacated/empty.

So the impression I got last time was that West Oaks seemed like a really fancy Gardenridge. Usually malls that go bankrupt never come back to their former glory, i.e., Westwood Mall, Sharpstown, etc. One exception, however, is Memorial City Mall. I recall that went downhill, I used to call it 'Mexico City Mall' for obvious reasons then. My wife really had to drag me there a few years ago after the big remodeling effort. It is nice, but I guess I had high expectations as I was not overly impressed, but overall, it really is nicer than it used to be for sure.

So do you think West Oaks Mall can be rehabilitated? Do you think it should be razed, or turned into something else? If so, what? The area around there appears to also be going downhill, so the future does not look bright, at least in my opinion.

[Metro Matt]

West Oaks should be razed, that whole area around HWY 6 & Westheimer has gotten way too ghetto in the past few years to really do anything about it at this point. Low class malls seem to attract low class people.

[Regal Black]

I don't care what they do to that mall. I'm hardly there and I stay like 10 min away. I'm only there to buy shoes, that's it.

[jfre81]

Oh snap. Is there any reason to go on living now?

[Mom2Feebs]

The West Oaks area was pretty nice at one point. When two major anchors left that mall, that was a signal to the remaining decent residents in the area to get the eff out. The line of demarcation has steadily grown north on 6 and now it is just a huge mess.

I don't know how this works, but it's fascinating to watch. I should have taken more sociology and economics classes.

[texas7]

The problem with razing these malls is that the population who shops there, is still there and need a place to shop. It takes a somewhat savvy developer to go in and evaluate the demographics and rejuvenate a center into something that meets the area - along with the proper security - etc. to make it a viable area. Kind of like the Gulfgate area was revitalized to meet the area needs and not generic to the needs of the entire Houston area.

[catfancier]

I've been there several times and I don't think it's so bad...though I usually just go in the Dillard's entrance off Richmond and shop there. I have always noticed that there's almost no other shoppers in the store though and wondered how they keep going.... Also have walked over to Sears and (when it was open, Linens N Things) and never felt unsafe, though granted I've only been there in daylight. I bought gorgeous, top-quality (Natuzzi leather) furniture at Dillard's, which had a FAR better selection than its counterpart at First Colony Mall, so go figure!

The one time I did walk the interior of the West Oaks mall though I wasn't too impressed by the client stores.... I would be sorry to see the whole mall go though.

[crbcrbrgv]

I don't understand all these "West Oaks is so ghetto" comments. I go there quite often. Is it a little urban? Yes. But it's hardly ghetto. If someone is smart, they will build that mall up. It's the closest mall to Katy. Furthermore, the affluent of Alief (yes there are actually a lot of them. Most administrators within the district live within the district) would be attracted to West Oaks as opposed to driving all the way to First Colony or the Galleria. Those who say "it's ghetto" come across as a bit racist to me.

[sbhubbell]

I was just there the other day, mainly to check out the children's play area. That play area is very nice, and the mall looked like it could be nice, but it was essentially deserted and had very few of the stores I look for. There are ZERO children's clothing stores, which is rediculous if you have a play area. I also didn't like the layout, how you had to turn sharp corners and couldn't even tell where the other wings were. Crowded columns and walls I guess. I was sad to see what obviously used to be a very nice Starbucks but was gone...tons of empty store spaces.

I'm not really sure what will happen, or if the demographics are there to support rehabilitation...I should think they are, the wealthy part of south Katy is very closeby. But most people stick with either Katy Mills or head to the Galleria. That whole area is looking pretty overrun with cheap commercial, strip malls, etc. I can see why Katy folks stay away.

[cla]

I had avoided West Oaks when I first came here because of the negative comments I had heard. However, when I was more or less forced to go in to the Macy's because it was the nearest one to Katy, I wondered what everyone was talking about. Yes, it looked pretty deserted, and yes the exterior looks a little dated, but I didn't see anything to scare me. Of course, I am from N.O., currently the 3rd largest murder capital in the world, so my idea of an unsafe area may be a lot different than the typical surbanite around here :-).